Harrisville Central School District – Transportation State Aid and Debt for Bus Purchases (2020M-48)

Issued Date
July 02, 2020

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

  • Determine whether the District applied for all transportation State aid for new bus acquisitions.
  • Determine whether the Board and District officials properly issued and accounted for debt issued for new bus acquisitions.

Key Findings

  • The District did not apply for all transportation State aid (State aid) for seven new bus acquisitions resulting in a potential revenue loss of $477,200. During our audit, the Business Manager prepared and submitted State aid forms for three of these buses.
  • The District unnecessarily borrowed more than $294,000 when purchasing 11 buses during our audit period. We estimate the District will pay about $11,000 in interest expense on the surplus debt proceeds.

Key Recommendations

  • File the appropriate State aid forms with SED for the remaining four buses identified in this report.
  • Properly segregate and account for surplus bond proceeds to ensure they are used to retire District debt.

District officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they would or had already initiated corrective action.