Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to determine whether District officials effectively managed general fund balance and whether extra-classroom activity (ECA) funds were adequately safeguarded and cash collections and disbursements were properly accounted for during the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017.

Background

The Saranac Lake Central School District is located in Franklin, Essex and Clinton Counties. The District, which is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education, has approximately 1,200 students. Budgeted appropriations for the 2017-18 fiscal year total approximately $30.5 million.

Key Findings

• Unrestricted fund balance at the end of 2016-17 was almost $4.8 million, or 15.6 percent of the ensuing year’s budgeted appropriations, exceeding the 4 percent statutory limit by 11.6 percentage points and appropriations were overestimated by more than $4.5 million, or 5.5 percent, from 2014-15 through 2016-17.
• ECA clubs did not maintain adequate supporting documentation for collections and some clubs did not maintain ledgers.

Key Recommendations

• Use surplus funds as a financing source to fund one-time expenditures and needed reserves or reduce District property taxes.
• Ensure that student treasurers and advisors properly account for all ECA collections and maintain the required records.