Audit Objective
Determine whether the Island Trees Union Free School District (District) used its resources to maintain a website that provided the public with transparent and comprehensive financial information.
Key Findings
District officials maintained a website but certain financial information was not posted, resulting in a lack of transparency. Information that was posted was limited in comprehensiveness. This prevents taxpayers and other interested parties from readily accessing and reviewing documents to make informed decisions.
Officials did not post the:
- Final annual budget.
- Budget-to-actual results, a comprehensive property tax report card and all external audit results.
- Annual internal audit.
Officials did not prepare:
- A multiyear financial plan. Posting a prepared plan further enhances the transparency of the District’s fiscal decisions.
Key Recommendations
Must post required information to the District website:
- Final annual budget, a comprehensive appended property tax report card in its entirety and all external audits.
Should enhance transparency by:
- Posting budget-to-actual results and the annual internal audit.
- Preparing and posting a multiyear financial plan to help residents see the impact of fiscal decisions over time.
District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action. Appendix C includes our comment on an issue District officials raised in their response.