Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the District’s financial condition for the period July 1, 2014 through February 29, 2016.

Background

The Farmingdale Union Free School District is located in the Towns of Oyster Bay in Nassau County and Babylon in Suffolk County. The District, which operates six schools with approximately 5,800 students, is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education. The District’s budgeted appropriations for the 2015-16 fiscal year were approximately $157.4 million.

Key Findings

• The Board adopted budgets for fiscal years 2011-12 through 2014-15 that appropriated a total of $28 million in fund balance to finance operations. However, because they underestimated revenues by a total of $9.8 million and overestimated appropriations by a total of $26.6 million over that period, District officials used only $4 million (14 percent) of the appropriated fund balance.
• Recalculated unrestricted fund balance averaged almost 8 percent (two times the statutory limit) of the ensuing year’s operations during all four fiscal years.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt budgets that represent the District’s actual needs, based on available current information and historical data, and discontinue the practice of adopting budgets that result in the appropriation of fund balance that will not be used to fund District operations.
• Reduce the amount of unrestricted fund balance and use the excess funds in a manner that benefits District residents.