Arizona Revised Statutes Title 15. Education § 15-914. Financial and compliance audits

A. The governing board of a school district that is required to comply with the single audit act amendments of 1996 (P.L. 104-156;  110 Stat. 1396;  31 United States Code §§ 7501 through 7507) shall contract for at least annual financial and compliance audits of financial transactions and accounts subject to the single audit act amendments of 1996 and kept by or for the school district.  The governing board of a school district that is not required to comply with the single audit act and that has adopted an expenditure budget of $2,000,000 or more for the maintenance and operation fund pursuant to § 15-905 shall contract for an annual financial statement audit.  The governing board of a school district that is not required to comply with the single audit act and that has adopted an expenditure budget of less than $2,000,000 but more than $700,000 for the maintenance and operation fund pursuant to § 15-905 shall contract for a biennial financial statement audit.  An independent certified public accountant shall conduct the audit in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards.  To the extent permitted by federal law, a school district that is required to participate in an annual audit pursuant to this subsection may convert to a biennial audit schedule if the previous annual audit did not contain any significant negative findings.  If a biennial audit of a school district conducted pursuant to this subsection contains any significant negative findings, the school district shall convert back to an annual audit schedule.  If a school district is required to convert back to an annual audit schedule pursuant to this subsection because of significant negative findings, the school district may subsequently convert to a biennial audit schedule if the previous two annual audits did not contain any significant negative findings.  For the purposes of this subsection, “significant negative finding” means a finding that results in the issuance of a letter of noncompliance from the auditor general.

B. The governing board of a charter school that is required to comply with the single audit act amendments of 1996 shall contract for an annual financial and compliance audit of financial transactions and accounts subject to the single audit act amendments of 1996 and kept by or for the charter school.

C. A charter school that is not subject to the single audit act amendments of 1996 shall contract for at least an annual financial statement audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards.  An independent certified public accountant shall conduct the audit.

D. For all audits referred to in subsections A, B and C of this section, the independent certified public accountant shall submit a uniform system of financial records compliance questionnaire to the auditor general with the applicable audit reports.  The school district or charter school shall send a paper copy or electronic copy of the applicable audit reports to the county school superintendent of the county where the school district is located and the department of education.   The department of education shall make the audit reports available on the department's website.

E. Contracts for all financial and compliance audits and financial statement audits and the completed audits shall be approved by the auditor general as provided in § 41-1279.21.  Contracts for all financial and compliance audits and financial statement audits shall comply with the rules for competitive sealed proposals as prescribed by the state board of education in § 15-213.

F. If the school district or charter school will incur costs of financial and compliance audits for the budget year, the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school may increase its base support level for the budget year by an amount equal to the amount expended for the district's or charter school's financial and compliance audits in the year before the current year, increased by the growth rate as prescribed by law, subject to appropriation.  In determining the amount expended for the district's or charter school's financial and compliance audits, the school district or charter school shall include only the portion of the audit that must be paid from monies other than federal monies.  The department of education and the auditor general shall prescribe a method for determining the increase in the base support level and shall include in the maintenance and operation section of the budget format, as provided in § 15-903, a separate line for financial and compliance audits expenditures.

G. Every audit contract shall include a systematic review of average daily membership, as defined in § 15-901, using methodology that is consistent with guidelines established by the auditor general.  The auditor general shall consider cost when establishing guidelines pursuant to this subsection and, to the extent possible, shall attempt to minimize the cost of the review.  The purpose of the review is to determine whether the average daily membership reported by the charter school or school district complies with the laws of this state and the uniform systems of financial records for charter schools and school districts.

H. A school district governing board or a charter school governing body shall publicly accept all audits and compliance questionnaires by roll call vote.