Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial management for the period July 1, 2012 through November 24, 2015 and examine the District’s calculation of separation payments for the period July 1, 2013 through November 24, 2015.

Background

The East Rochester Union Free School District is located in the Towns of East Rochester, Perinton and Pittsford in Monroe County. The District, which operates two schools with approximately 1,190 students, is governed by an elected five-member Board of Education. Budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year totaled approximately $26.5 million.

Key Findings

• The Board did not adopt budgets based on historical or known trends.
• As of June 30 2015, the District overstated encumbrances by at least $198,771, which understated the amount of available unrestricted fund balance. As a result, unrestricted fund balance was actually 6.3 percent of the 2015-16 budget.
• District officials did not have written policies and procedures governing separation payments and did not maintain adequate supporting documentation for each separation payment.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt budgets that reflect the District’s actual needs and include realistic estimates based on historical trends or other identified analysis.
• Ensure that year-end encumbrances relate to the fiscal year that they are recorded in and avoid recording invalid encumbrances that result in circumventing the fund balance limitation.
• Develop written policies and procedures to govern the separation payments process and ensure that all separation payments have adequate and consistent supporting documentation with evidence of appropriate review.