[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Jamesville-Dewitt Central School District (District) claims were adequately supported, for appropriate purposes and approved prior to payment.

Key Findings

We reviewed 88 claims totaling approximately $5.5 million and found that they were for appropriate District purposes and audited prior to payment. However, the District needs to improve the claims audit process because not all claims were adequately supported and independently reviewed.

• The claims auditor duties were not well defined and, because the claims auditor was also the Information Technology (IT) Coordinator (Coordinator), his audit of claims initiated by him totaling more than $48,000 for the IT Department was not independent. The Board of Education (Board) appointed a new claims auditor in July 2022 to correct this internal control deficiency.
• Thirteen claims totaling $20,936 had at least one exception, such as a lack of purchasing agent approval prior to purchase, evidence of competition or compliance with written contractual agreements.
• The claims auditor provided reports to the Board that did not include any exceptions found during the claims audit. Although the claims auditor said the exceptions were resolved before the reports were prepared, the Board should have been aware of the exceptions.

Key Recommendation

• Ensure claims are adequately supported and properly authorized and the results of the claims audit process are reported monthly to the Board.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.