New York state remains on the brink of insolvency.
Red should be the state”™s color, the same dye as the ink that covers its ledgers.
Taxes rise and government grows and we point fingers.
But a sub-government of sorts grows just as fast, if not faster; enabled by our representatives in Albany.
Lawmakers have let school districts rule and grow and grow on the backs of taxpayers.
Sixty percent of our tax bills go to schools.
The districts have become fiefdoms populated by tenured workers.
Threaten to withhold education money or suggest cutbacks to education and be prepared for war.
It took state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and his office of auditors five years, but they lifted the opaque curtain on school accounting and were able to identify $880 million in financial miscues, to put it politely.
“My auditors identified $615 million that districts unnecessarily set aside at taxpayers”™ expense. That”™s money that could have been used to lower property taxes. Now more than ever, every dime counts. Our audits are helping protect those dimes for taxpayers,” DiNapoli said.
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In the executive summary of his “Making the Grade” report, the comptroller stated:
“We found that some school districts”™ budget processes routinely result in significant annual surpluses. This has resulted in taxpayers routinely paying higher taxes than necessary and districts accumulating more than $600 million in reserve funds in excess of the liabilities they would reasonably need to pay in the foreseeable future.”
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The audits also uncovered nearly $50 million in noncompetitive contracts. Perhaps the school administrators should sit in on some of the business courses being taught in their high schools and learn how competition could actually drive costs down.
And there were other problems ranging from $140 million in missed Medicaid reimbursements to $25 million in improper contract payments. And of course, no audit is complete without fraud, nearly $18 million worth at 19 school districts.
“Taxpayers have the right to know if the school districts are managing their money the right way and we found a majority are trying to do this,” DiNapoli said. “Our audits have increased transparency by giving taxpayers an objective look into school district finances. We”™re holding school officials accountable. And we”™ve protected taxpayers”™ money.”
It”™s interesting to note that the comptroller”™s office audited all 733 of the state”™s public schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services. With a call for consolidation of services to save money, our school districts are prime targets in light of all the questionable payments and missed cost savings.
Time to tear down some castle walls and save us from paying unneeded taxes.
