Warsaw Central School District – Financial Management (2016M-278)

Issued Date
December 16, 2016

Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial management activities for the period July 1, 2012 through June 13, 2016.

Background

The Warsaw Central School District is located in the Towns of Gainesville, Java, Middlebury, Orangeville, Warsaw and Wethersfield in Wyoming County. The District, which operates two schools with approximately 900 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $19.5 million.

Key Findings

  • The Board and District officials annually appropriated portions of fund balance toward the subsequent year’s budget that were not used due to a practice of overestimating appropriations.
  • Three reserves totaling approximately $3.8 million were overfunded.
  • The debt reserve totaling approximately $600,000 has not been used since 2010-11 for related debt principal and interest payments, as statutorily required.

Key Recommendations

  • Develop annual budgets with realistic estimates of appropriations and appropriated fund balance and reserves.
  • Review all reserves at least annually to determine if the amounts reserved are necessary and reasonably funded. Any excess funds should be transferred to unrestricted fund balance (where allowed by law) or to other reserves established and maintained in compliance with statutory directives.
  • Use available debt reserve funds to pay debt service principal and interest.