New York State Comptroller released Local Government and School District audits

On November 4, 2024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued the following local government and school audits.

Click on the text highlighted in color to access the item posted on the Internet

Alden Central School District – Fuel Management (Erie, Genesee and Wyoming Counties) District officials did not properly manage fuel operations. Specifically, the superintendent and business administrator did not establish clear written guidance or provide adequate oversight of fuel management including verifying the quantity of fuel purchased, controlling fuel access, monitoring fuel usage  and performing inventory reconciliations. As a result, the transportation supervisor did not update fuel prices in the system and the bills were calculated based on the outdated prices resulting in billing errors totaling $9,176. Officials also did not maintain physical tank readings or perform periodic inventory reconciliations and were not aware of fuel inventory valued at $3,500. Therefore, they could not identify, investigate and correct the possible causes. Auditors found officials did not verify the accuracy of vendor charges leading to fuel overcharges totaling $1,498 and officials did not know who had access to the district’s fuel tanks.

 

Avon Central School District – Financial Management (Monroe County) The board and district officials did not effectively manage fund balance and reserves. The board-approved budgets overestimated appropriations by an average of approximately $1.7 million per year which made it appear the district needed to appropriate $300,000 of fund balance each year and increase real property taxes to close budget gaps. However, the district incurred operating surpluses in all five years auditors reviewed. Appropriating fund balance that is not needed circumvents the statutory limit. Auditors found six reserves totaling over $5 million had high balances that were not needed or used. The district also lacked written multiyear financial and capital plans. This inhibited effective financial management and justification for the levels of accumulated fund balance and reserves. 

Lyme Central School District – Financial Management (Jefferson County) The board and district officials did not properly manage the district’s fund balance. As a result, they levied more taxes than needed to fund operations and were not transparent with taxpayers. Auditors found the board and district officials: overestimated budgetary appropriations by an annual average of $918,000 (12%) from 2020-21 through 2022-23; appropriated fund balance to close projected budget gaps totaling $1.6 million for the 2020-21 through 2022-23 fiscal years though the district only needed to use approximately $23,000 of appropriated fund balance to cover operating costs during the period. It also reported fiscal year-end surplus fund balance during the same period ranging from 16% to 19% of the upcoming year’s budget, which was $1 million to $1.4 million over the 4% statutory limit. Additionally, the district did not have written multiyear financial and capital plans to provide a framework for developing the annual budgets and addressing future operating and capital needs. 

Wantagh Union Free School District – Financial Application User Access Controls (Nassau County) The board and district officials did not establish adequate controls over user accounts for the financial application to help prevent inappropriate access and use. Auditors found the board and district officials do not have reasonable assurance that they would be able to prevent or detect inappropriate changes to financial data, improper transactions or the misappropriation of funds in the financial application.

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New York City Correction Officer disciplined for spraying chemical agents at a person in custody

New York City New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings [OATH] Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Michael D. Turilli recommended a 10-day suspension for a correction officer [Respondent] charged with excessive force for spraying chemical agents at a person in custody. 

Respondent had deployed chemical agents after the person in custody, who was secured in a recreation yard pen, began urinating in the direction of a captain and other officers. The person in custody then attempted to spit at Respondent, and Respondent sprayed the chemical agents at the person in custody two more times.

The ALJ determined Respondent’s three successive sprays of chemical agents were unreasonable because there were practical alternatives available, such as maintaining a safe distance and awaiting instructions from her captain.

Noting that the Department's Disciplinary Guidelines provide for a 10-day minimum suspension for the first substantive use of force violation, Judge Turilli found the Department’s request for a 20-day suspension to be excessive.

Given that Respondent had no prior record of use of force violations and there was no evidence of concealment or deception by Respondent or of injury to the person in custody, the ALJ found no reason to deviate from Disciplinary Guidelines and so recommended to the appointing authority, Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie.

Click HERE to access Judge Turilli's decision and recommendation posted on the Internet.

Second Circuit Court of Appeals holds a federal district court reviewing a claim for reimbursement under the IDEA must independently evaluate the equities, without deferring to the state administrative agency’s conclusion

Plaintiff appealed a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granting summary judgment in favor of Melissa Aviles-Ramos,* in her official capacity as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, and the New York City Department of Education [collectively DOE] on Plaintiff’s claim for reimbursement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]. Plaintiff sought reimbursement from the DOE for the cost of her disabled son’s private education during the 2019–2020 school year, alleging that DOE had failed to offer her son a free appropriate public education. 

An Impartial Hearing Officer [IHO], the State Review Officer [SRO], and the federal district court below each found that Plaintiff engaged in a course of conduct that frustrated the DOE’s attempts to develop a suitable education plan for her son. They also concluded that the balance of the equities disfavored reimbursement.

The Circuit Court noted that the factual record as to Plaintiff’s conduct is not in dispute nor is the finding that Plaintiff's conduct impeded the DOE. However, on appeal, said the court, Plaintiff argued that the district court deferred to the IHO’s and SRO’s views of the equities and thus erred. 

In doing so, opined the Circuit Court, Plaintiff raised a question that has split the district courts in this Circuit and that this Circuit Court has "not yet resolved".

The Circuit Court then ruled that a district court reviewing a claim for reimbursement under the IDEA "must independently evaluate the equities, without deferring to the state administrative agency’s conclusion". 

Applying that rule, the Circuit Court concluded that reversal is not warranted in this case because "the district court ultimately did balance the equities and did not abuse its discretion in doing so".

Accordingly, the Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the federal district court's judgment.

* The Circuit Court noted Plaintiff's complaint was originally filed against Meisha Porter in her official capacity as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. Dr. Porter stepped down from her position in December 2021. Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), the current Chancellor, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, was automatically substituted as a party.

Click HERE to access the Circuit Court's decision posted on the Internet.