Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine District officials’ management over financial activities for the period July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013.

Background

The Harpursville Central School District is located in five towns in Broome County and three towns in Chenango County. The District is governed by the Board of Education which comprises seven elected members. The District’s budgeted expenditures for the 2013-14 fiscal year were approximately $16.1 million.

Key Findings

• The Board and District officials did not ensure that fund balances were reasonable. For the five-year period ending June 30, 2013, District officials planned to use $4.2 million of fund balance to finance District operations; however, they only used $1.27 million of appropriated fund balance during this period. As a result, the unexpended surplus funds exceeded the statutory maximum of 4 percent of the ensuing year’s budget during this period, ranging from 21 percent to 33 percent.
• The District has four reserve funds with excessive balances.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that the amount of the District’s unexpended surplus fund balance is in compliance with Real Property Tax Law statutory limits and reduce the amount of unexpended surplus fund balance in a manner that benefits District taxpayers.
• Review all reserve balances and transfer excess funds to unrestricted fund