Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2013 through October 20, 2014.

Background

The Margaretville Central School District serves eight towns in Delaware, Greene and Ulster counties and operates one school with approximately 380 students. The District is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education. The District’s general fund budgeted appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year were $10.8 million.

Key Findings

• The District has not used any reserve moneys, except for about $16,800 of the repair reserve.
• The Board continually adopted budgets that included tax levy increases that were not necessary.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that the amount of the District’s unrestricted fund balance is in compliance with Real Property Tax Law statutory limits and reduce the amount of unrestricted fund balance in a manner that benefits District taxpayers. Such uses could include, but are not limited to, paying off debt, financing one-time expenditures and reducing property taxes.
• Develop more realistic budget appropriations based on prior year’s actual results and anticipated operations and avoid raising more real property taxes than necessary.