Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the District’s financial management for the period July 1, 2012 through July 27, 2015.

Background

The Rondout Valley Central School District is located in the Towns of Marbletown, Rochester, Rosendale and Wawarsing in Ulster County. The District, which operates five schools with approximately 2,000 students, is governed by an elected nine-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year total approximately $60.7 million.

Key Finding

• The District’s 2012-13 year-end unrestricted fund balance was 6.5 percent of the ensuing year’s appropriations, exceeding the 4 percent statutory limit imposed on unrestricted fund balance.
• The District experienced operating surpluses from 2012-13 through 2014-15. During this time, revenues exceeded expenditures by more than $2.5 million and no amount of appropriated fund balance was used to finance operations.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt budgets with reasonably estimated appropriations.
• Discontinue the practice of adopting budgets that result in the appropriation of unrestricted fund balance that is not actually needed to fund District operations.