Newburgh Enlarged City School District officials overestimated certain appropriations and underestimated certain revenues, which reduced the effectiveness of managing its financial condition, according to a State Comptroller’s report.
The audit also noted that the district made unbudgeted year-end transfers totaling $67 million and also made it appear they needed more funding to meet operational needs than was needed by appropriating fund balance to balance the budget but generally did not need the appropriations.
The audit findings date back to July 1, 2019, and conclude June 30, 2024.
“Because realistic budgets were not adopted, the Board and District officials accumulated significant fund balance,” the Comptroller’s Office wrote. “The variances between the budgets District officials presented to taxpayers and the district’s actual operational results during the audit period were approximately $87 million. As a result of these practices, the Board was not as transparent with taxpayers as they could have been during the budget process.”
From 2019-2024, the district has had five different business officials and three different Superintendents. current Superintendent Jackielyn Manning Campbell oversaw the budget adoption process for the final year that was reviewed by the state.
John Doerre, who took over as Newburgh School Board President in July, issued a response to the state’s findings:
“The district does not agree with some of the statements in the report nor all the findings and will prepare a corrective action plan to both clarify and address recommendations that are no longer relevant due to action taken, current processes and procedures that were in place prior to the issuance of this report and outline any future action that will be taken in response,” Doerre wrote.
For the first four years that were reviewed, the district proposed a 0% tax increase for the public’s approval. The district proposed a 2.48% tax increase for the 2024-2025 school year, estimated to equate to $9 per month per $300,000 of assessed value.
A recent point of contention among Board of Education members has been a forensic audit. The then Board majority approved $125,000 of taxpayer monies to hire an external firm to conduct a forensic audit, essentially duplicating efforts coinciding with the state’s review.
The state Comptroller’s Office did not issue any repercussions or penalties with its findings.
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