Issued Date
March 23, 2021
Audit Objective
Determine whether the New Lebanon Central 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:
- Budget-to-actual results; budget documents with fund balance information, appended salary disclosure and all detailed property tax report card information; and annual external audit reports.
- Office of the State Comptroller’s (OSC’s) audit and corrective action plan (CAP) transparently, or include a specific corrective action per audit recommendation.
Officials did not prepare:
- A multiyear financial plan. Posting a prepared plan further enhances the transparency of the District’s fiscal decisions.
Key Recommendations
- Post the budget-to-actual results, comprehensive budget documents and audits with detailed CAPs to the District website.
- Prepare and post a multiyear financial plan to help residents see the impact of fiscal decisions over time.
District officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action.