By JEFF MORRIS
October is audit report time for local school districts, and both the Bedford Central and Katonah-Lewisboro boards of education recently were presented with and accepted the results of external audits for the school year ending June 30, 2024.
Bedford Central
At the BCSD Board of Education meeting Oct. 9, Michael Connolly of the Bonadio Group reported that they found no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the district’s finances.
Trustee Robert Mazurek asked about the fund balance, which showed a $2.8 million increase. Connolly said that appeared attributable to a decent decrease in overall expenditures in the budget, from $156 million to $151 million, as well as an increase in revenues from $151 million to $154 million.
Trustee Steven Matlin noted they had this discussion in the finance committee, and the expenses were “right on the money,” with the increase coming in revenue. Assistant Superintendent for Business and Administrative Services Tom Cole confirmed that the $2.8 million fund balance increase was almost entirely in revenue.
The board voted to accept the audit.
Katonah-Lewisboro
Jeffrey Schafer and Carolyn Kopf of PKF O’Connor Davies presented the results of the district audit at the Oct. 10 Board of Education meeting. They found no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies.
Key financial highlights for fiscal year 2023-24 that were cited include a final fund balance of $25.5 million.
They reported New York state law limits the amount of unassigned fund balance that can be retained by the General Fund to 4 percent of the subsequent year’s budget. At the end of the current fiscal year, this amount for the General Fund was $4,956,236, or 3.99 percent.
Their report included a narrative that stated, “The Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free School District ended fiscal year 2024 financially strong. The School District designated $2,450,000 for return to the taxpayers. In these times of major economic uncertainty, the future financial stability of the School District is not without challenges. The School District strives to maintain its longstanding commitment to academic excellence and educational opportunity for students within a framework of financial fiduciary responsibility. The School District administration continues to provide the resources necessary to meet the needs of the students, while carefully controlling expenditures to assure tax levy increases are kept to a minimum and well spent.”
Their narrative noted that New York state school districts operate within a state-imposed property tax cap, which limits a school district’s ability to increase their tax revenue based on a calculation of the lesser of 2 percent or Consumer Price Index. Over the past several years, said the auditors, KLSD has experienced increases in the cost of health insurance. “The rate of increase associated with health insurance far exceeds the consumer price index utilized in the NYS tax cap calculation,” they said. “The continued increase in the cost of health insurance is the single most impactful expenditure increase in the budget. It makes the process of developing a tax cap compliance budget challenging.”
The narrative ended, “In summary, the School District is poised to withstand a number of years of financial challenges. School District administration expects to continue this policy of diligent fiscal planning to ensure continued long-term budgetary health and stability.”