Purpose of Budget Review

The purpose of our budget review was to provide an independent evaluation of the District’s preliminary budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Background

Chapter 308 of the Laws of 2005 authorized the Beacon City School District to issue debt up to a maximum amount totaling $5,288,000 to liquidate the accumulated deficit in the District’s general fund as of June 30, 2005. Local Finance Law Section 10.10 requires all local governments that have been authorized to issue obligations to fund operating deficits to submit to the State Comptroller each year, starting with the fiscal year during which the local government is authorized to issue obligations and for each subsequent fiscal year during which the deficit obligations are outstanding, their preliminary budget for the next succeeding fiscal year.

Key Findings

• Based on the results of our limited review, we found the significant revenue and expenditure projections in the preliminary budget are reasonable.
• The preliminary budget includes the appropriation of $2.5 million of fund balance to help finance 2015-16 operations.
• The District’s proposed budget complies with the tax levy limit because it includes a tax levy of $36,262,918, which is within the limits established by law.

Key Recommendation

• Monitor the District’s use of fund balance to ensure that action is taken, if necessary, to identify other funding sources that can be used to fund operations.