New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of the Canaseraga Central School District, Hoosic Valley Central School District, New Paltz Central School District and the Washingtonville Central School District.

"In an era of limited resources and increased accountability, it’s critical that schools make every dollar count," DiNapoli said. "By auditing school district and charter school finances and operations, my office continues to provide taxpayers the assurance that their money is being spent appropriately and effectively."

Canaseraga Central School District – Cafeteria Cash Receipts (Allegany County)

District officials have not adopted written policies and procedures governing cafeteria cash receipts. As a result, the district still uses only one cash drawer and there is no documentation indicating who is using the point of sale system. Although individual passwords are required to access the system, they are not routinely changed. In addition, cashiers can make adjustments to the sales reports that are not approved by the cafeteria manager.

Hoosic Valley Central School District – Financial Management (Rensselaer County)

The school board adopted unreasonable budgets which included overestimated appropriations. The budgets for fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13 called for using a total of about $3.1 million in reserves and surplus funds to finance operations; however, only $539,496 of these funds were used. By not using unexpended surplus funds and reserves to finance operations, district officials missed opportunities to minimize property taxes.

New Paltz Central School District – Financial Condition (Dutchess County)

The board consistently balanced its budgets by appropriating unrestricted fund balance. As a result, by the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, the district had an unrestricted unappropriated fund balance of $6,309, or .01 percent of the ensuing year’s budget. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, however, the board took necessary steps to improve the district’s financial condition.

Washingtonville Central School District – Reserve Funds (Orange County)

District officials have not implemented the district’s reserve fund policy for the funding and use of reserve funds. One reserve, the unemployment insurance reserve, was not supported by a plan or other documentation validating the amount retained. The $956,640 balance in this reserve as of June 30, 2013 was 14 times the amount of the district’s average annual unemployment costs.