VOORHEESVILLE — An independent audit of the Voorheesville Central School District found no issues, no significant deficiencies, and no material weaknesses, according to Ray Brown, of the Bonadio Group, the accounting firm that performed the audit of the district’s finances.

“In the expenses for the district, they were in line with the budget for the year. We did note one issue of noncompliance, and that was that the district was over the 4 percent [unappropriated] fund-balance cap during the year, the district was at 6.39 percent, but that was the only issue we noted during the audit,” Brown said during the Oct. 16 school board meeting.

Two areas could account for being over the unappropriated fund-balance cap: Utilities and special education, Francis Rielly, the assistant superintendent for finance and operations, told The Enterprise.

“We budgeted a certain amount of money for utilities, and because it was a mild winter, we did not use nearly the amount of natural gas and electric that we thought we would,” Rielly says.

“The other one that is difficult to quantify for some people is special education,” Rielly says. “With special education, it can change in a matter of one student coming into your district, or leaving your district.”

He says, “We budgeted more money in special education costs than we expended, which is pretty typical with all the districts.

“For instance, if you have a severely disabled student who moved into your district, you would need to provide them services,” Rielly says. “One student can cost $100,000 to $120,000 per year.”

For Rielly, it can be a difficult and delicate balance trying to prepare for the unexpected. The state requires school districts to have no more than 4 percent of their budgets in their unappropriated fund-balance accounts to keep taxes in check. It also allows for funds to be set up to save in specific areas. But, at the same time Rielly has to worry about having enough funds if the unexpected does occur.

It becomes an impossible question: How do you not prepare for the unexpected and then be expected to be prepared?

Rielly says, “This is kind of the Catch-22 that you get into. The comptroller is saying 4 percent [fund balance], and we try to do that. But you get to a point where I have to go conservative with these numbers because, if I try to play it too close and get caught … we could be dipping into reserves or amending a budget. You’re only allowed to spend the amount of money that you put out to the taxpayer.

“So, if I put out a $24 million budget, I’m only allowed to spend $24 million in the school year. If something happens, and I have to spend $24.5 million and there’s not a reserve fund somewhere that I can pull money out of, then I am in trouble. While we try to abide by the comptroller’s guidelines, sometimes it’s just … that predictability, you can’t really predict it.”

What Rielly says he can do is set up a new, separate account: a reserve fund account, “that may be used only for very specific purposes and is, therefore, not available to be used for tax reduction in the next subsequent fiscal year,” according to the New York State Education Department.

He uses the example of preparing to pay for a capital project.

The district can put money aside every year, Rielly says. “It acts as a sort of savings account, so you’re not asking the taxpayer to take out a huge bond to pay for a new project,” he says.

The district’s 2017 revenue totaled $24,824,334. Ninety-four percent of revenue came from two sources — 68 percent from property taxes and 26 percent in state aid, according to the audit report; the remainder came from fees charged for services, interest earnings, the BOCES refund, and other miscellaneous sources.

The total cost of all programs and services for 2017 is $25,072,018. Seventy-six percent of expenditures are for classroom instruction. Fourteen percent of total costs are for the district’s board of education, administrative, and business functions, and 7 percent is for pupil transportation.

During the board’s approval of the independent audit report, Trustee Michael Canfora praised Rielly and Treasurer Robin Burch for their work.

“I always ask the auditor how do the books look. Because I used to audit and, in my younger accounting days, I used to audit school districts. I can tell you that school-district books can be a mess,” Canfora said.

He said that the auditor told him the district’s books are in great shape.  

A brand-new playground

Jaime Chismark told the board that the Friends of the Voorheesville Playground had exceeded, in just 10 months, its fundraising goal of $200,000.

The group has raised close to $230,000, Chismark said

The new playground will be made of yellow pine wood, which doesn’t splinter, said Chismark.

It will have a zip line, cargo nets, a twisty slide, a climbing apparatus, and a separate area for preschoolers. It will also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“One of the main points was that the kids wanted to get from one side of the playground to the other side of the playground without touching the ground, which is supercool. So, you can — you can get from one side to the other side without touching the ground,” she said.

Chismark said they are awaiting approval from the state, and hope to begin building in the spring of 2018.

Later in the meeting, the board approved the playground design contingent upon and subject to state approval. The new playground will replace a 25-year-old playground behind the elementary school, which will be removed.

Higher taxes for some

The trustees also heard from residents of the Weatherfield neighborhood in Guilderland, who pay their school taxes to the Voorheesville Central School District, who were upset over the increase in their tax bills.

“I’m here, as the superintendent knows quite well, because we are very, very unhappy about our tax bill this year. I’ve been paying tax bills for 30 years, they’ve always been somewhat higher than almost anywhere else in the Capital District, but it’s just part of the cost of having a house.

It helps resale value — now I fear it may depress the resale value because it’s just a great, additional expense,” said Tim Reilly, a resident of the Weatherfield neighborhood in Guilderland,

“I’m not the only one who thinks this,” Reilly said. “Superintendent Hunt said in an email, ‘Yes this is not fair.’ The supervisor of the town of Guilderland called the state system ‘corrupt.’ The state officer in charge of creating this equalization rate, that visited this big increase on us said, ‘Yeah, it’s really not any good, but it’s what we have.’ Now, you can imagine as a tax-paying citizen how happy that makes me feel.”

Reilly said his school taxes went from $7,900 to $9,100.

The Voorheesville Central School District receives tax money from three towns: New Scotland, Guilderland, and Berne.

New Scotland’s share of the tax-levy used to fund the district is 73.9 percent; Guilderland’s is      24.8 percent; and Berne’s is 1.3 percent.

The increase in Guilderland’s school tax is due to a drop in the town’s equalization rate, which is set by the state for the town — not the school district — and led to an almost 12 percent increase for Guilderland residents whose homes are in the Voorheesville Central School District.

The state-set rate is meant to equalize assessed values — which are assigned by the town. Guilderland hasn’t revalued on a town-wide basis since 2005.

The Enterprise reported in September, that Guilderland had challenged its equalization rate. The town argued that the state’s system is flawed both because it merely samples values and it does not look at a county in its entirety, which creates disruptions in communities.
 

Other business

In other business, the school board:

— Authorized an expenditure of $6,500 to repair the concrete slabs on the middle school stairs;

— Approved an amendment to clarify the district’s purchasing policy.

— Approved an amendment to the budget that will allow for the expenditure of $45,000, which the district received from a state grant-in-aid; and

— Heard Superintendent Brian Hunt’s report, which said the district is working with an architect to refine the design for parking buses at the county’s nearby department of public works garage.

Once complete, according to the report, a cost estimate will be determined and the district can then look for grants.