Report of Regents Audits/Budget and Finance Committee to The Board of Regents

The Regents Committee on Audits/Budget and Finance met as scheduled this morning March 12, 2013.  Chancellor Tisch, Regents Tallon, Tilles, Phillips, and Young were in attendance.

Items for Discussion

New York State Single Audit – State Education Department Findings

The Department expended more than $4.6 billion in federal funds from 8 major programs during the 2011-12 State fiscal year.  Staff from the accounting firm of KPMG briefed the Committee on six audit findings related to the Department’s administration of those federal funds

Completed Audits

The Committee was presented with nine audits this month. Six of the audits were issued by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and three by the Office of Audit Services (OAS).  Seven of the audits were of school districts and two were of preschool providers of special education services.  The findings were in the areas of procurement, financial reporting, claims processing, information technology, payroll, segregation of duties, Medicaid reimbursements, Employment Preparation Education program, and school improvement grants.

February 2013 Fiscal Report

Our Chief Financial Officer briefed the Members. General Fund accounts are in structural balance with the exception of the Tenured Teacher Hearings (TTH) account, although fiscal and programmatic reforms were included in the enacted state budget, there continues to be a deficit of an estimated $9 million in unpaid bills due to chronic under funding of this program. Revenue accounts are all in structural balance on a current year basis and the accumulated negative balance in the Cultural Education Account is being reduced by approximately $2,800,000, due primarily to an increase in revenue this year.