Onteora Central School District – Procurement and Claims Auditing (2021M-216)

Issued Date
May 27, 2022

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether Onteora Central School District (District) officials procured goods and services in a cost-effective manner and ensured claims were audited for accuracy and completeness.

Key Findings

District officials did not always procure goods and services in a cost-effective manner or ensure claims were audited for accuracy and completeness.

The District did not:

  • Have proper documentation to support that a bus purchase totaling $121,928 was competitively bid.
  • Obtain minimum required quotes for eight purchases totaling $106,212.

The claims auditor did not:

  • Audit claims for accuracy or completeness. As a result, we identified discrepancies with 17 claims totaling $11,173.

Key Recommendations

  • Ensure officials and staff clearly document compliance with competitive bidding statutes and the District’s purchasing policies and procedures.
  • Obtain verbal and written quotes and ensure that all proper documentation is maintained.
  • Provide the claims auditor with access to District’s financial application to verify availability of funds and ensure pricing matches vendor agreements.

District officials agreed with our findings and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.