New York Audit Critical of Wayland-Cohocton School District

January 7, 2010

State auditors claim officials in the Wayland-Cohocton school district have overestimated expenses for several years and failed to seek competitive bids for products and services.

The state Comptroller’s Office released the audit of the 1,655-student district this week. In a response letter to the state, district officials said the examination covering July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2009, "contains a number of conclusions and broad statements that we believe r eflect subjective opinions of the Comptroller’s Office."
The district that includes parts of Ontario, Livingston and Steuben counties "consistently overestimated expenditures by a total of $6.7 million for the past five years," according to the audit report.
During the same period, the property tax levy in the district increased by more than $1.8 million, or 38 percent, state officials said.

The surpluses were used to fund various reserve accounts. As of June 30, 2009, the district had nine reserves and other trust accounts with $4.6 million.
"District officials did not adequately inform taxpayers about how reserves were funded and how reserved moneys were used," the auditors wrote in their report.
Auditors also faulted the district for a lack of policies governing procurement procedures, such as what to do when only one bid is received.

In two cases, the district accepted the bids of sole vendors, auditors found.
And the district has not sought competition for three service providers who were paid $1.1 million between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009.

But district officials said they have complied with all statutory bidding requirements.
"We take pride and work hard in making sure we are following General Municipal law, including bidding requirements. We would be more than willing to correct any instance in which we did not if it was clearly shown to us," district officials said in their response letter.
District officials pointed out that the audit uncovered no malfeasance or illegal activity.

And, they said, the tone of the audit is inconsistent with the Comptroller ‘s own suggestion of setting money aside for future needs.
District officials said their conservative approach has helped keep down taxes. During the past 17 years, annual tax increases averaged 1.7 percent.
"We feel our prudent budget practices are an advantage to our community in a time when your state is going through a fiscal crisis," said Superintendent Michael Wetherbee.
"They’re going to allow us to maintain the quality education we provide without a drastic increase in taxes to offset any aid decrease we get from the state," Wetherbee said.