Issued Date
March 23, 2021
Audit Objective
Determine whether the Newark 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, and appended administrator salary disclosure and all required property tax report card information; all external and internal audit reports and corrective action plans (CAPs).
- A comprehensive multiyear financial plan.
- Prior year comparison information with the current final annual budget.
Key Recommendations
- Ensure that budget-to-actual results, comprehensive budget documents, a comprehensive multiyear financial plan, audits and CAPs are on the website in a transparent location.
District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action.