Audit Objective

Determine whether Addison Central School District (District) officials sought competition for the procurement of professional services.

Key Findings

District officials did not seek competition for most professional services in accordance with District policy. District officials:

• Paid approximately $365,000 to 12 of the District’s 14 professional service providers without seeking competition.
• Did not solicit a request for proposal (RFP) for audit services within the last five years as required by Chapter 263 of the Laws of 2005.
• Have consistently used the same construction management company since 2004 and bond counsel since 2002.

Because officials did not always seek competition for professional services or did not seek competition in a timely manner, officials cannot assure taxpayers that services were procured in the most economical way and without favoritism.

Key Recommendation

• Solicit competition when procuring professional services, as required by District policy and law.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on issues District officials raised in their response.