Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2010 through August 4, 2015.

Background

The Alexander Central School District is located in the Towns of Alexander, Batavia, Bethany and Darien in Genesee County and the Town of Bennington in Wyoming County. The District operates two schools with 858 students and is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education. General fund appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year total $17 million.

Key Finding

• District officials consistently overestimated expenditures during the last five fiscal years, which generated approximately $2.4 million in operating surpluses and appropriated an average of approximately $670,000 in fund balance annually, which was not needed to fund operations due to operating surpluses.
• District officials used approximately $2.5 million of fund balance to fund seven reserves that totaled approximately $5 million. Three of these reserve funds are overfunded.

Key Recommendations

• Develop realistic estimates of expenditures and the use of fund balance in the annual budget.
• Use the excess amounts in reserve funds in a manner that benefits District taxpayers.