Alan Yu, an external auditor from the firm, Cullen & Danowski LLP gave the findings of the annual district external audit at Oct. 22’s Hicksville Board of Education meeting. Discussed at the meeting were the financial statements of the 2013-14 school year which officially ended June 30.
According to Yu, the Hicksville School district has a fund balance of $34 million. Roughly 26 to 27 percent of the general fund balance comprises the total budget.
Total revenues for the district are $119 million which is an increase of 2 percent or $2.4 million compared to the 2012-13 school year. Additional revenues in State Aid came in $232,000 higher than in the 2012-13.
Total expenditures for 2013-14 are $119.3 million which is a 5.9 percent increase from the $112.7 million figure in 2012-13. The biggest increase was a 15 percent increase in employee benefits (TRS & ERS contributions). Salaries increased by 3.6 percent and BOCES costs went up by 1 percent.
“Our firm does almost 50 school district audits and these figures are not a surprise to me,” said Yu. “Salaries and contractual obligations in TRS and ERS are driving up the costs.”
Other News:
The Board of Education approved two new scholarships at the meeting. The first new local scholarship was the Jeremy Katz Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $500. The second local scholarship approved was the Lee Avenue PTA Mary M. D’Andrea Scholarship in the amount of $500. D’Andrea was a teacher for over 25 years in the district. Both scholarships will be added to the Directory of Local Scholarships.
There will be a special meeting of the Board of Education Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Administration Building. The topic will be the Superintendent search and the Specification Development Report.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m. in the Administration Building.
