Financial Audits
Each year, the District is audited by the Washington State Auditor's Office. Each audit typically consists of three components: a financial statement audit, a federal program audit, and an accountability audit. The State audits the District's financial statements to make sure the District is in compliance with the Accounting Manual for Public School Districts in the State of Washington. The State also audits each major federal program to assure the District is in compliance with federal regulations and standards. Lastly, the State performs an accountability audit to make sure the District is in compliance with state laws, regulations, board policies, board procedures, and has sound internal controls to safeguard its public resources. If the District were to be non-compliant in any of these areas, the State would issue what is called an "audit finding."
The District has had clean audit reports in each of its last eight years, one of the longest streaks of all King County school districts. Find all historical audit reports at the Office of the Washington State Auditor website, and you can find audit reports from the past seven years listed below.
Learn About Our Current Audit
Throughout spring 2024, the Office of the Washington State Auditor reviewed the district’s compliance over the 2022-23 school year in the three areas listed above: financial accounting; federal programs; and state laws, regulations, board policies, board procedures, and internal controls. No audit findings were reported in either the Financial/Federal Audit Report or the Accountability Audit Report, making them both "clean audits."
“The annual audit process is a thorough, outside look at how well the district is safeguarding public funds,” said Tahoma’s Chief Financial Officer, Bill Hernandez. “We are pleased to have received no findings in either of this year's audit reports, making this the seventh straight year with no audit findings.”
Audit reports are one of the factors considered in determining a district’s creditworthiness.
In preparation for the recent refinance of our 2013 bond, the district maintained its Aa2 Moody’s credit rating, which represents fixed securities, like bonds, that are of a high quality and very low credit risk. This is the third highest credit rating assigned by Moody’s to fixed securities, and the highest possible credit rating for a district of our size. The sale was also backed by the Washington State School Bond Guarantee with a “Aaa” rating, which is the strongest bond rating possible, and is also partially determined by our historical clean audit reports.
The strong financial position of our district during the bond refinance saved local taxpayers $6.5 million over 10 years.
Please see this year's audit reports linked out below, in the "Historical Financial and Federal Audit Reports" and the "Historical Accountability Audit Reports" sections.