State Comptroller DiNapoli Releases School Audits

November 4, 2024

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following school audits were issued.

Alden Central School District - Fuel Management (Erie, Genesee and Wyoming Counties)

District officials did not properly manage fuel operations. Specifically, the superintendent and business administrator did not establish clear written guidance or provide adequate oversight of fuel management including verifying the quantity of fuel purchased, controlling fuel access, monitoring fuel usage and performing inventory reconciliations. As a result, the transportation supervisor did not update fuel prices in the system and the bills were calculated based on the outdated prices resulting in billing errors totaling $9,176. Officials also did not maintain physical tank readings or perform periodic inventory reconciliations and were not aware of fuel inventory valued at $3,500. Therefore, they could not identify, investigate and correct the possible causes. Auditors found officials did not verify the accuracy of vendor charges leading to fuel overcharges totaling $1,498 and officials did not know who had access to the district's fuel tanks.

Avon Central School District - Financial Management (Monroe County)

The board and district officials did not effectively manage fund balance and reserves. The board-approved budgets overestimated appropriations by an average of approximately $1.7 million per year which made it appear the district needed to appropriate $300,000 of fund balance each year and increase real property taxes to close budget gaps. However, the district incurred operating surpluses in all five years auditors reviewed. Appropriating fund balance that is not needed circumvents the statutory limit. Auditors found six reserves totaling over $5 million had high balances that were not needed or used. The district also lacked written multiyear financial and capital plans. This inhibited effective financial management and justification for the levels of accumulated fund balance and reserves.

Lyme Central School District - Financial Management (Jefferson County)

The board and district officials did not properly manage the district's fund balance. As a result, they levied more taxes than needed to fund operations and were not transparent with taxpayers. Auditors found the board and district officials: overestimated budgetary appropriations by an annual average of $918,000 (12%) from 2020-21 through 2022-23; appropriated fund balance to close projected budget gaps totaling $1.6 million for the 2020-21 through 2022-23 fiscal years though the district only needed to use approximately $23,000 of appropriated fund balance to cover operating costs during the period. It also reported fiscal year-end surplus fund balance during the same period ranging from 16% to 19% of the upcoming year's budget, which was $1 million to $1.4 million over the 4% statutory limit. Additionally, the district did not have written multiyear financial and capital plans to provide a framework for developing the annual budgets and addressing future operating and capital needs.

Wantagh Union Free School District - Financial Application User Access Controls (Nassau County)

The board and district officials did not establish adequate controls over user accounts for the financial application to help prevent inappropriate access and use. Auditors found the board and district officials do not have reasonable assurance that they would be able to prevent or detect inappropriate changes to financial data, improper transactions or the misappropriation of funds in the financial application.