Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2012 through February 28, 2015.

Background

The Corinth Central School District is located in the Towns of Corinth, Day, Greenfield, Hadley and Wilton in Saratoga County and the Town of Lake Luzerne in Warren County. The District, which is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education, operates two schools with approximately 1,200 students. General fund budgeted appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year are $20.7 million.

Key Findings

• The Board-adopted 2012-13 through 2014-15 general fund budgets were not structurally balanced because the Board routinely relied on significant amounts of appropriated fund balance to finance operations.
• The Board and District officials did not develop a multiyear financial plan to address the use of restricted and unrestricted fund balance.
• The Business Administrator did not prepare periodic year-end revenue projections for the Board.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt general fund budgets that include realistic estimates for revenues and expenditures and ensure that future budgets are structurally balanced without relying on fund balance as a financing source.
• Develop a comprehensive multiyear financial plan to establish objectives for funding long-term needs.
• Prepare periodic year-end revenue and expenditure projections to ensure that estimated revenues are still anticipated to be collected in full to support appropriations.