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NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

State Comptroller DiNapoli Releases School District Audits

January 8, 2021

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following school district audits have been issued.

Alexandria Central School District – Financial Condition Management (Jefferson County and St. Lawrence County)

The district’s budgeted appropriations from 2016-17 through 2018-19 exceeded actual expenditures by $844,261, or 6.4 percent, and the district did not need to use most of the appropriated fund balance for operations. The surplus fund balance in the general fund exceeded the 4 percent statutory limit for the past three fiscal years. As of June 30, 2019, surplus fund balance was $1.75 million, or 12.8 percent of the next year’s budget. In addition, district officials have not developed a long-term financial plan or a comprehensive reserve fund policy. Officials also did not implement the recommendations in a prior audit released in March 2016. This audit contains similar findings and recommendations.

Prattsburgh Central School District – Financial Management (Steuben County and Yates County)

The board and district officials’ actions to manage financial condition were not transparent and more taxes were levied than necessary to fund operations. The board also appropriated fund balance totaling $1.13 million for fiscal years 2016-17 through 2018-19 but none of the money was used or needed to fund operations. For the last three fiscal years, the district reported that it exceeded the 4 percent statutory surplus fund balance limit, however when unused appropriated fund balance is added back, surplus fund balance exceeded the limit between 11 and 15 percentage points. In addition, the board did not develop written multiyear financial and capital plans.


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