MEET THE BAUMANN SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
SCHOOLS
According to GANNETT newspapers, "The Bedford school district's annual audit produced applause for its fiscal health but criticism of some business practices.
District auditor Les Storch of Bennett Kielson Storch & Co. of White Plains said the district ended the fiscal year June 30 with a surplus( fund balance) of $1,062,000,
"The district is in the best financial condition it is allowed to be in," Storch is reported as saying.
Districts use their fund balances as slush funds, using some to reduce the amount to be raised by property taxes and the rest to cover unexpected expenses or whatever the hell they want.
"Fund balances are critical to financial stability," Storch said. Without them, tax rates and budgets are likely to fluctuate dramatically, he said.
GANNETT REPORTS that Storch criticized certain management practices. The audit of Bedford's cash accounts revealed that payroll records had not been reconciled with bank records for six months, a problem he called "severe." Assistant Superintendent Mark Betz said the discrepancy was about $3,000. The payroll runs about $2.6 million a month.
Storch said a system for balancing payroll accounts was in place. But Betz said it had not been followed to the penny, attributing the problem in part to a new computer system that did not work.
To resolve the problem, the business office has resumed manual handling of the reconciliation. It is creating a computerized list of outstanding checks, Betz said.
The auditors also criticized the district for not establishing a separate deposit account for refunds in property-tax challenges and reflecting the interest as required by state law; for not reconciling the school lunch fund daily and monthly; and for spending more than approved for several projects, including replacement of three oil tanks and purchase of new school buses.
The most interesting aspect of the reporting is that GANNETT is a slavish
co-dependent of the over priced county public school systems all the while aware
of the corruption prevalent in them.