Purpose of Audit

The objectives of our audit were to evaluate the District’s financial activities and cellular telephone purchases and use for the period July 1, 2013 through August 31, 2014.

Background

The Sayville Union Free School District is located in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County. The District, which is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education, operates five schools with approximately 3,000 students. Budgeted appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year were about $90 million.

Key Findings

• The District retained unexpended surplus funds beyond the statutory limit in each of the five years, 2009-10 through 2013-14.
• The District overestimated expenditures in its adopted budgets, experienced large operating surpluses and did not use the appropriated fund balance included in its budgets.
• The Network Systems Administrator did not properly review cell phone invoices, and the claims auditor did not properly review the claims for proper and accurate charges.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that the amount of the District’s unexpended surplus funds is in compliance with Real Property Tax Law statutory limits.
• Discontinue the practice of adopting budgets that result in the appropriation of unexpended surplus funds that are not needed to fund District operations.
• Ensure that the Network Systems Administrator and claims auditor properly review all cell phone bills prior to authorizing payment.