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

The Regents Committee on Audits/Budget and Finance met as scheduled yesterday afternoon, September 16, 2013.  Regents Dawson, Bendit, Jackson, Cottrell, Norwood, Phillips, Tallon, Tilles, and Young were in attendance.

Items for Discussion

Office of Audit Services Audit Plan for 2013-2014 

The Committee was updated on the Office of Audit Services Audit Plan for 2013-2014.

Completed Audits

The Committee was presented with 28 audits this month.  Four of the audits were issued by the Office of Audit Services, 22 by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and two by the New York City Comptroller’s Office.  Sixteen of the audits were of school districts, five were of charter schools, three were of pre-school providers of special education services, one was a State Education Department function, one was a follow-up of a provider of after-school services, and two examined a process and a system within the New York City Department of Education.

The findings were in the areas of financial reporting, budgeting, procurement, payroll, information technology, claims processing, lease, student enrollment and billing, and program oversight.

2013 Fiscal Report

Our Chief Financial Officer briefed the Members on the August Fiscal Report. Extensive spending controls continue for all funds.  General Fund spending reflects the amounts appropriated in the 2013-2014 enacted budget. General Fund accounts are in structural
balance with the exception of the Tenured Teacher Hearings (TTH) account. The 2013-14 budget includes a $6 million appropriation for TTH claims, an increase of $2.2 million from the prior year. With these additional funds, the deficit at the end of 2013-14 is projected to be $2.03 million. Special 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 $700,000.