Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.

Background

The Cazenovia Central School District is located in the Towns of Cazenovia, Fenner, Georgetown, Lincoln, Nelson and Sullivan in Madison County and the Town of Pompey in Onondaga County. The District operates three schools with approximately 1,500 students and is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year total $26.9 million.

Key Finding

• The Board has relied on appropriated fund balance as a financing source in annual budgets, causing the District to incur planned operating deficits in the general fund.
• The District set aside over $4.2 million in a variety of reserve funds prior to 2011-12 and used about $2.5 million from reserves to help fund expenditures in the face of its financial challenges the past four years. However, these reserve fund appropriations were not included in the annual budgets.

Key Recommendations

• Avoid overreliance on appropriated fund balance.
• Include reserve fund appropriations in the annual budgets if they are used as a financing source in the ensuing year