New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of the Inlet Common School District, Lockport City School District, Morris Central School District, Putnam Central School District, Springville-Griffin Institute Central School District and the Three Village 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.”

Inlet Common School District – Claims Auditing (Hamilton County)

District officials have established an effective policy to ensure claims are adequately documented and approved prior to payment.

Lockport City School District – Monitoring Transportation Contracts and Costs (Niagara County)

Mileage information submitted by the transportation vendor for fuel reimbursements was not supported by appropriate documentation and the district was overbilled for fuel for the 2013-14 fiscal year. Also, district officials have not periodically solicited bids or proposals for primary transportations services.

Morris Central School District – Financial Operations (Otsego County)

The board has generally ensured the district’s unrestricted fund balance was within the statutory limit. However, certain reserves had significant balances when compared to their respective liabilities. District officials have a five-year plan to reduce these reserves to reasonable levels.

Putnam Central School District – Budgeting (Washington County)

For the 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal years the district overestimated expenditures by a total of $682,398. As a result, the district has accumulated an amount of unrestricted fund balance that exceeds the statutory limit. The district’s unrestricted fund balance was 59 percent of the 2015-16 budgeted appropriations as of June 30, 2015.

Springfield-Griffith Institute Central School District – Financial Management (Erie County)

Business administration did not ensure that reconciliations of interfund activity were sufficient or proper or that correct entries were made for interfund loans on fund ledgers. In addition, the district did not always pay employees at the proper pay rate and payroll was not always adequately supported or calculated.

Three Village Central School District – Fuel Inventories (Suffolk County)

District officials do not review fuel transaction reports generated from the computerized fuel inventory system or reconcile fuel purchased to fuel consumed to identify anomalies regarding quantities dispensed, fueling times and vehicle or equipment used. As a result, the district’s fuel inventory record was overstated by 452 gallons of gasoline and 297 gallons of diesel fuel, with a total value of $1,725.

For access to state and local government spending and nearly 50,000 state contracts, visit OpenBookNY. The easy-to-use website was created by Comptroller DiNapoli to promote openness in government and provide taxpayers with better access to the financial workings of government.