Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2014 through January 31, 2016.

Background

The Sauquoit Valley Central School District is located in the Towns of Bridgewater, Kirkland, Marshall, New Hartford and Paris in Oneida County and the Towns of Frankfort and Litchfield in Herkimer County. The District, which operates three schools with approximately 1,000 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year total approximately $20 million.

Key Findings

• District officials have not developed a long-term financial plan to maintain financial stability.
• The District has used fund balance to help finance operations for each of the past three fiscal years.

Key Recommendations

• Develop a long-term financial plan to decrease expenditures, increase revenues or both.
• Reduce the reliance on fund balance and adopt budgets in which recurring expenditures are funded by recurring revenues.