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Audit Objective

Determine whether Cincinnatus Central School District (District) officials sought competition to procure goods and services not subject to competitive bidding requirements.

Key Findings

District officials did not always seek competition to procure goods and services not subject to competitive bidding requirements. As a result, goods and services may not have been procured in a manner that ensured the economical use of public funds. Officials did not:

• Periodically seek competition for nine of 11 professional service providers paid $262,862 during the 17-month audit period. Except for their CPA firm, officials used these 10 professional service providers on average for 11 years each, including a legal firm used for 23 years, without seeking any competition to confirm the rates paid were reasonable.
• Seek competition for textbook purchases totaling $18,997.

Key Recommendations

• Update the procurement policy and related procedures to include guidance for procuring goods and services not subject to competitive bidding.
• Comply with all District procurement policies and procedures.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.