New accounting rule complicates audit

The best possible opinion rendered for how Oconee public schools handle their money may have been the only normal part last night during the annual audit presentation for the Oconee School District.   Certified Public Accountant Don Estep announced an “unmodified opinion”—which he said is the best possible.  Yet most of the auditor’s presentation dealt with a new accounting rule that requires South Carolina public agencies to reflect unfunded parts of retirement benefits.  After hearing that the unfunded retirement balance for the district hit $118 million dollars, Estep was asked by District Five trustee Buddy Herring if the figure is such that it should make the district nervous.  But Estep said, “From what we’ve been told, most bonding companies are going to ignore it.  They know what it is and know it is something that, in my opinion, you will not ever have to pay.”