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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Scarsdale Union Free School District (District) officials ensured overtime was properly approved, accurate and monitored.

Key Findings

Although overtime was properly approved, District officials did not monitor overtime to ensure it was accurate. Had officials established adequate controls, the District’s overtime costs may have been reduced by at least $167,000. As a result, officials are paying more for overtime than necessary.

Officials:

• Overpaid 20 employees a total of $11,961 for overtime.
• Paid 20 employees overtime totaling $524,934, primarily for routine services, including $123,113 for cleaning services. With appropriate scheduling, over $155,516 of these overtime payments could have been avoided or reduced.

Key Recommendations

• Implement procedures for supervisory review of hours worked to ensure the accuracy of overtime charges.
• Adopt policies and procedures with clear guidelines for overtime work, including the approval of overtime, to ensure that only necessary overtime charges are being incurred.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on an issue that was raised in the District’s response letter.