New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of the Campbell-Savona Central School District, Gilboa-Conesville Central School District, Hicksville Union Free School District, Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District, Madrid-Waddington Central School District and the Yorkshire-Pioneer Central School District.

“In an era of limited resources and increased accountability, it’s critical that schools make every dollar count,” DiNapoli said. “By auditing school district and charter school finances and operations, my office continues to provide taxpayers the assurance that their money is being spent appropriately and effectively.”

Campbell-Savona Central School District – Budget Review (Steuben County)

District officials increased real property taxes within the amount allowed by law. However, they could have used amounts from their excessive reserves or appropriated additional fund balance to finance operations. In addition, the unemployment reserve is overfunded.

Gilboa-Conesville Central School District – Oversight of Portable Devices (Schoharie County)

District officials did not keep their inventory list up-to-date when computers were deployed to various locations or when they were disposed of. Also, they have not established effective procedures to monitor portable device use when taken off-site.

Hicksville Union Free School District – Purchasing (Nassau County)

District officials are complying with statutory requirements and have designed a purchasing process that enables competitive methods for the procurement of goods and services.

Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District – Financial Condition (Orange County)

The district’s unrestricted fund balance as of June 30, 2015 was approximately $2.8 million, exceeding statutory limits by almost $1.7 million. In addition, the district’s tax certiorari reserve appears to be overfunded by approximately $489,000.

Madrid-Waddington Central School District – Financial Condition (St. Lawrence County)

The board did not develop reasonable budgets. Over the last three fiscal years, the district spent almost $4.7 million (11 percent) less than budgeted. This practice led to the accumulation of excess funds in the debt service fund and enabled the district to report year-end unrestricted fund balance at levels that were close to or within legal limits.

Yorkshire-Pioneer Central School District – Financial Management (Cattaraugus County)

District officials have not properly managed fund balance. As of June 30, 2015, unrestricted fund balance was more than 10 percent of the ensuing year’s budget, or approximately $3 million over the legal limit, and is projected to remain at nearly the same level at the end of 2015-16.

For access to state and local government spending and nearly 50,000 state contracts, visit OpenBookNY. The easy-to-use website was created by Comptroller DiNapoli to promote openness in government and provide taxpayers with better access to the financial workings of government.