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

The Regents Committee on Audits/Budget and Finance met yesterday, as scheduled.  Regents Brown, Tilles, Bendit, Rosa, Cashin, Cottrell, Johnson, Ouderkirk, and Tallon were in attendance.  

Items Discussed

Completed Audits

The Internal Audit Workgroup (IAWG) reviewed the twelve audits that are being presented to the Committee this month.  All audits were issued by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC). Nine audits were of school districts and three audits were of special education services providers.

The findings were in the areas of capital assets, claims processing, financial reporting, budgeting, art education requirements, Consolidated Fiscal Reporting (CFR) compliance, the school lunch program, and tax certiorari.

Deputy Commissioner, Sharon Cates-Williams, gave the Committee members a synopsis of audits that were reviewed by the IAWG and were presented for calendar year 2015. She also presented a comparison of the 2015 versus 2014 calendar year on the differences in the number of audits that were completed between the two years, most specifically with charter schools.

Executive Budget Overview and 2016 Fiscal Report

Our Chief Financial Officer provided the Members with an overview of the December 2015 Fiscal Report. Extensive spending controls continue for all funds.  The General Fund spending reflects the amounts appropriated in the 2015-16 enacted budget.  General Fund accounts are in structural balance.  Special Revenue accounts are all in structural balance on a current year basis and the accumulated negative balance in the Cultural Education Account is projected to be reduced by approximately $500,000.