Audit Objective
Did Greenburgh Central School District (District) officials procure time and materials contracts in a cost-efficient manner and provide oversight of awarded contracts?
Audit Period
July 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023
Understanding the Audit Area
School districts (districts) periodically seek competition for certain goods and services which are anticipated by the district on an as needed basis. Time and materials contracts may be used by districts when the district is unable to provide precise quantity requirements for a particular project due to indeterminate needs throughout a fiscal year. Under such circumstances, a district’s contract may be competitively bid based on a cost per unit/labor hour rather than a fixed cost. The Board of Education (Board) designated a purchasing agent to be responsible for overseeing the District’s purchasing function.
District officials entered into time and materials contracts with multiple vendors to perform maintenance, service repair and minor projects (e.g., construction, electrical and plumbing). In total, the District paid $3.8 million to 32 vendors for time and materials contracts during our audit period.
Audit Summary
District officials generally procured time and materials contracts in a cost-efficient manner through the use of competitive bids or an exception to the competitive bidding process. However, District officials did not confirm that the goods and services billed by the vendor and paid by the District were accurate and complied with the applicable bid specifications or, in some circumstances, the terms of the contract. Because officials did not ensure payments were in accordance with contract terms, officials overpaid three vendors a total of $55,015. In addition, officials did not ensure all vendor invoices were properly supported and audited before payment. As a result, there is an increased risk that paid claims may not be for legitimate expenditures.
The report includes two recommendations that, if implemented, will help improve District officials’ ability to determine whether the goods and services billed and paid for were accurate and complied with the applicable contract or bid terms. District officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have initiated corrective action.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report must be prepared and provided to our office within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of the New York State General Municipal Law, Section 2116-a (3)(c) of the New York State Education Law and Section 170.12 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. To the extent practicable, implementation of the CAP must begin by the end of the next fiscal year. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer to our brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. The CAP should be posted on the District’s website for public review.