Purpose of Budget Review

The purpose of our budget review was to determine whether the significant revenue and expenditure projections in the District’s tentative budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year are reasonable.

Background

The Campbell-Savona Central School District was authorized to issue debt totaling $3,250,000 to liquidate the accumulated deficit in the District’s general fund as of June 30, 2006. Local Finance Law requires all local governments that have been authorized to issue obligations to fund operating deficits to submit their tentative budget for the next fiscal year to the State Comptroller for review while the deficit obligations are outstanding.

Key Findings

• The significant revenue and expenditure projections in the tentative budget appear reasonable.
• The District consistently appropriates fund balance that is not needed to fund operations.
• The unemployment reserve is overfunded. The reserve has a balance of $116,081, which is almost 25 times the average annual expenditures.
• The District’s tentative budget complies with the property tax levy limit.

Key Recommendations

• Consider decreasing real property taxes by using fund balance and reserve funds to finance operations as appropriate.
• Review all reserves and determine if the amounts reserved are necessary and reasonable.