Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014.

Background

The DeRuyter Central School District is located in the Towns of Cazenovia, DeRuyter, Georgetown and Nelson in Madison County; the Towns of Lincklaen and Otselic in Chenango County; The Town of Cuyler in Cortland County; and the Town of Fabius in Onondaga County. The District operates one school and has approximately 430 students. Budgeted appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year totaled approximately $10 million.

Key Findings

• The Board has appropriated a significant amount of fund balance for the District’s budget during the past few years and has not adopted a fund balance policy establishing the level of unrestricted fund balance to maintain.
• The Board has not formally adopted a long-term operational plan.
• The Board did not use proceeds from the insurance reserve for authorized purposes and did not budget to make a required repayment to the repair reserve to replenish it after moneys were used for emergency expenditures.

Key Recommendations

• Develop and adopt a fund balance policy that establishes an adequate amount of unrestricted fund balance to be maintained, within the legal limit, to meet the District’s needs and provide sufficient cash flow.
• Develop and regularly update a realistic multiyear financial plan.
• Ensure that reserve funds are used for their authorized and intended purposes, in compliance with applicable laws.