SINCLAIRVILLE – A recent audit by the New York State Comptroller’s Office has shown that Cassadaga Valley Central Schools needs to improve its financial management policies and practices.
The State comptroller’s office recently reviewed the school district’s finances to determine whether the Board and school officials properly managed fund balance and reserves.
The audit found that appropriations were overestimated by $3.2 million over a three-year period and that the district’s unrestricted fund balance exceeded the statutory limit by more than $950,000 as of June 30, 2017. The audit also found that three reserves totaling $3 million were overfunded. During that time frame, the average spending plan for the district was an estimated $20.1 million each year.
As a result of the audit, the comptroller’s office released several recommendations, including:
- Adopt future budgets that include reasonable estimates for appropriations and use of appropriated fund balance.
- Reduce the unrestricted fund balance to within the statutory limit and use excess funds to fund onetime expenditures and needed reserves or reduce property taxes.
- Adopt a more comprehensive reserve policy and review reserves to determine whether the balances are necessary and reasonable.
District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.
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