Purpose

To determine whether the costs reported by The ARC of Ulster-Greene (Ulster-Greene) on its Consolidated Fiscal Report (CFR) were properly calculated, adequately documented and allowable under the State Education Department’s (SED) guidelines, including the Reimbursable Cost Manual (RCM). The audit covered the year ended December 31, 2014.

Background

Ulster-Greene, a not-for-profit organization located in Kingston, New York, is an SED-approved provider of preschool special education services. Ulster-Greene provides these services to children with disabilities between the ages of three and five years. In 2014, Ulster-Greene provided preschool special education services to about 130 children from ten school districts located in Ulster, Green and Delaware counties. Ulster-Greene is reimbursed for preschool special education services through rates set by SED. These reimbursement rates are based on financial information, including costs, that Ulster-Greene reports to SED on its annual CFR. To be eligible for reimbursement, reported costs must comply with the guidelines specified in the RCM. For the year ended December 31, 2014, Ulster-Greene reported approximately $2.6 million in reimbursable costs for its preschool special education programs.

Key Finding

For the year ended December 31, 2014, we identified $995 in other than personal service costs charged to the programs that did not comply with SED’s requirements for reimbursement.

Key Recommendations

To SED:

• Review the disallowances identified by our audit and make the necessary adjustments to the costs reported on Ulster-Greene’s CFRs and to Ulster-Greene’s tuition reimbursement rates, as appropriate.
• Remind Ulster-Greene officials of the pertinent SED guidelines that relate to the deficiencies we identified.

To Ulster-Greene:

• Ensure that costs reported on annual CFR’s fully comply with SED’s requirements.

Other Related Audits/Reports of Interest

State Education Department: Dynamic Center Inc. - Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2014-S-3)
State Education Department: Upstate Cerebral Palsy - Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2014-S-71)