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

Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central School District – Financial Management (Cattaraugus County)

The board and district officials did not properly manage fund balance and reserve funds. The board and district officials did not implement a prior audit’s recommendations to improve their budgeting practices and ensure surplus fund balance is in compliance with the statutory limit. Officials consistently overestimated appropriations by an average of more than $2 million a year and allowed surplus fund balance to exceed the statutory limit of 4%. As of June 30, 2021, it was nearly $7.8 million (28% of the 2021-22 appropriations), exceeding the limit by more than $6.6 million or 24 percentage points. Officials also did not ensure $2.2 million was properly restricted in a debt reserve and did not use the funds to pay related debt as required. As a result, the district was not transparent with taxpayers and has levied more taxes than necessary.

Clarence Central School District – Financial Condition Management (Erie County)

The board and district officials did not effectively manage the district’s financial condition. As a result, the district levied more taxes than needed to fund operations. The board and district officials consistently overestimated general fund appropriations from 2018-19 through 2020-21 by a total of $16 million and appropriated $6.4 million that was not needed or used. The recorded fiscal year-end commitments related to unperformed contracts for goods and services totaling was $3.3 million during the audit period and $3.2 million was unsupported or for unbudgeted purchases. In effect, officials improperly sheltered a portion of surplus fund balance from the statutory limit and made surplus fund balance appear less than it actually was. Officials adopted annual budgets which gave the impression the district would have operating deficits totaling $6.4 million when it had operating surpluses totaling $7.3 million, or a swing in operational results of $13.7 million. As of June 30, 2021, surplus fund balance totaled $9.2 million, or more than 6 percentage points above the 4% legal limit.

Oswego County Board of Cooperative Educational Services – Claims Auditing (2022M-29)

The claims that auditors reviewed were supported and for appropriate BOCES purposes. However, all claims were not audited or approved prior to payment. As a result, BOCES has a higher risk of inaccurate or improper payments occurring. Auditors reviewed 1,790 claims, totaling $16.5 million, to determine whether they were audited and approved prior to payment and found that 1,393 claims (78%), totaling $6.4 million, were paid prior to the claims auditor’s approval. Based on dates transactions cleared the bank, 195 additional claims totaling $469,800 were likely paid prior to the claims auditor’s approval. Auditors reviewed 114 claims totaling $2.1 million and found they were supported by adequate documentation and for appropriate purposes.

Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services – Network Access and Information Technology Assets (2022M-65)

BOCES officials did not ensure network access and IT assets were properly safeguarded from unauthorized use, access, and loss. In addition, sensitive IT control weaknesses were communicated confidentially to officials. Officials did not periodically review and disable unneeded network user accounts resulting in 61 unnecessary accounts or provide adequate IT security awareness training for all employees and contractors and periodically update the IT asset inventory records.

Weedsport Central School District – Payroll (Cayuga County)

Certain compensation paid to district administrators and business office personnel was inaccurate and/or did not have proper supporting documentation. The payroll clerk was not provided with supporting documentation for an administrator’s employment agreement. The superintendent miscalculated the treasurer’s and his 2021-22 salaries, which resulted in their salaries being overstated by $550 and $590. District officials corrected the errors when they were brought to their attention. District officials did not properly segregate payroll processing duties and did not provide adequate oversight.

Weedsport Central School District – Procurement and Claims Audit (Cayuga County)

District officials did not comply with statutory requirements or the district’s procurement policy when purchasing goods and services. Also, claims did not have adequate supporting documentation and were not properly audited before they were paid. District officials did not seek competition for purchases totaling $736,858 made from two vendors and purchases totaling nearly $1.4 million made from 10 professional service providers. District officials paid $687,418 to two professional service providers without entering into a written contract and did not seek competition for the district’s external audit services, as required. Twenty-three claims totaling $49,478 were not properly authorized and did not have adequate supporting documentation.

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