Audit Objective

Determine whether the Wallkill Central School District (District) claims auditor ensured claims were adequately supported, properly authorized, approved before payment, for valid purposes and properly reported to the Board of Education (Board).

Key Findings

The claims auditor did not ensure claims were adequately supported, properly authorized, approved before payment, for valid purposes and properly reported to the Board. We reviewed 100 claims totaling $1.7 million and determined:

• None were reviewed for sufficient budget appropriations, which could result in budget lines being overspent.
• 58 totaling $1.6 million did not have sufficient supporting documentation, which could result in paying a claim that is not valid and legal.
• 11 warrants (lists of claims) totaling $464,801 were not included in the claims auditor reports to the Board. As a result, the Board was not aware of all claims paid.

The claims auditor’s deficiencies with auditing claims creates a risk that the District could pay for invalid claims. In addition, the claims auditor has a family relationship with a Board member. As a result, the District’s claims auditor cannot serve in this position.

Key Recommendations

• Conduct a thorough and deliberate audit of all claims to ensure that they contain sufficient budget appropriations and supporting documentation before approving them for payment.
• Ensure the claims auditor report provided to the Board is accurate and complete.
• Ensure the claims auditor and acting claims auditor meet the requirements for eligibility for appointment.

District officials generally agreed with our findings and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on certain issues officials raised in their response.