Audit Objective 

Determine whether the West Babylon Union Free School District’s (District) claims auditor properly audited claims. 

Key Findings 

The claims auditor did not perform a proper audit of claims. As a result, there is an increased risk that goods and services may not have been received, and incorrect or inappropriate claims could be paid. 

We reviewed 86 claims totaling $10 million and determined that: 

• 73 claims totaling $9.8 million had one or more deficiencies, including confirming purchase orders (POs) (issued after goods or services were received, rather than having POs approved before good or services were acquired) and inadequate supporting documentation. 
• 21 claims totaling $3.1 million were not audited prior to payment in accordance with New York State (NYS) Education Law Section 1724. 
• The claims auditor did not report directly to the Board, did not note exceptions on the warrant and did not include all exceptions on her monthly reports. 

Recommendations 

The audit report includes five recommendations to help improve the District’s claims audit process. 

District officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have begun implementing corrective action. Appendix B includes our comment on an issue raised in the District’s response letter.