BROCTON — New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli recently announced a list of seven audits across the state, and the Brocton Central School District was named twice on the list.

Brocton was highlighted for both Claims Audit and Financial Management. In response, Brocton Superintendent Jason Delcamp stated, “Our district welcomes feedback and appreciates the opportunity this report could provide.”

Pertaining to the Claims Audit, the Comptroller’s report stated that claims were not properly audited before payment. The report found “an increased risk that improper or unsupported payments could have been made and may not have been detected and corrected.”

Auditors determined that of the 184 claims reviewed totaling $1.9 million, 100 claims totaling approximately $141,000 should not have been approved for payment because they had one or more exceptions. Additionally, 88 claims lacked evidence demonstrating that the required number of quotes were obtained or that competition was sought; 12 claims indicated that goods were purchased using a State contract or were competitively bid, but lacked supporting documentation to validate the claims; and 28 claims totaling approximately $66,000 did not contain evidence indicating that the goods or services were received.

The report stated, “Although the claims auditor had the experience and skills needed to qualify for the position, she was not performing an adequate claims audit because the Board did not ensure that the claims auditor was provided with adequate guidance to perform her duties.”

The district will develop a corrective action plan to address the Comptroller’s findings. “In developing the district corrective action plan, the Board of Education and Administration are mindful of its fiscal responsibility to the District and public,” Delcamp stated.

Delcamp defended the district by stating, “As expected the report does not suggest any findings of operational improprieties, fraud, misappropriation of funds, or malfeasance.”

In the report pertaining to Financial Management, the report stated, “The board and district officials did not properly manage fund balance and reserves.”

The report states that the budgetary appropriations were overestimated by an annual average of $1.3 million, or 8%. Officials also allowed surplus fund balance to exceed the statutory limit as of June 30, 2022 by 7 percentage points, or $1.2 million.

Officials “could not demonstrate” that six reserves with balances totaling more than $2.2 million were funded or used as management intended, and “did not establish an adequate reserve fund policy or develop annual reserve reports.”

Delcamp responded by stating, “At the conclusion of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years the District had to plan for the threat and then actual withhold of state aid to the District, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The District had many unknown expenditures as we educated students in an unprecedented way. These unknowns affected both our budget process and planned reserves and fund balance. The District is committed to maintaining excellent instructional programs for all students while understanding the resource capacity of the community and economic condition of the state.”

Also in the district’s response, Delcamp stated, “We understand the need to develop a more comprehensive written reserve plan and policy. The District will work with our fiscal advisers in the development of the plan and policy.”