Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine certain District financial activities for the period July 1, 2012 through December 16, 2013.

Background

The Owego Apalachin Central School District (District) is located in the Towns of Candor, Newark Valley, Nichols, Tioga and Owego in Tioga County. The District, which is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education, operates four schools with approximately 2,200 students. General fund budgeted appropriations for the 2013-14 fiscal year are $42.4 million.

Key Findings

• While the Board planned properly for the ongoing capital project, monitoring the project’s progress has been hampered by the lack of available complete information and the necessity to compile information from a variety of sources.
• The Board and District officials did not develop reasonable estimates for expenditures and use of fund balance in the annual District budget.
• Even though the amount of effective unexpended surplus funds is substantial, the District is facing certain unknowns and restrictions and may need to use moneys from the reserve funds or unexpended surplus funds if anticipated funding falls short.

Key Recommendations

• Closely monitor actual expenses to the proposed spending plan for the project’s life to ensure it stays within the approved scope.
• Develop and adopt budgets that include estimates for expenditures based on contractual and historical data.
• Develop a formal plan to use surplus fund balance while continuing to closely monitoring fund balance levels