Center Moriches Taxpayers Community Discussion Forum

District recently received the final

version of the Comptroller’s audit

report and the Board of Education

is extremely pleased that after a

comprehensive and thorough audit

process, the report noted only two

(2) issues of concern. This gives the

Board and the public yet another level

of assurance that the District’s business

operations are fi scally sound and that

our business offi ce structure and internal

controls are functioning as intended.

The fi rst item noted in the

report, the matter of the previous

administration’s failure to estimate

the tax rate for the 2004-2005 school

budget, was a matter of public record

before the audit process began. With

respect to the fact that “District

offi cials did not provide taxpayers

with the required information, prior

to May 2004 budget vote, to make

an informed decision…,” the District

accepts the report’s conclusions on this

matter. The criticisms are well taken.

Consequently, the District wishes to

assure the community that we have

already committed to making certain

that this never occurs again. We wish to

point out that the budgets for the 2005-

2006 school year, as well as the 2006-

2007 school year, were both presented

in accordance with applicable State law

and regulations, and indeed the actual

school tax rate increase for 2006-

2007 came in lower than originally

projected. Further, we wish to assure

you that we will ALWAYS publish

a projected school tax rate increase

prior to any and all future budget votes.

The second item was related

to the district’s process for selecting

professional service providers; the

report cites the district for not utilizing

the RFP (Request for Proposal)

process to solicit professional services.

Although not required by law, in the

interest of transparency and sound

fiscal management, the district has

already taken steps to comply with

the reports recommendation that all

future service contracts be solicited

using the RPF process. Related to

this item, the report indicates the

“overpayment” of a “special education

home service” provider. The report

indicates that the district “overpaid”

the aforementioned provider in the

amount of $9,127. Although the

district paid the service provider at an

hourly rate that was more than was

Board approved, it did not pay more

than the company billed for services

actually rendered to a special needs

student; the services provided, and the

rate the district paid were within the

parameters of the court order. Further,

this administration has taken the

necessary steps to assure that all service

providers are now Board approved.

The Board of Education and

administration of the Center Moriches

Union Free School District would

like to thank the State for its efforts.

There is no doubt that this report

supports the fact that as a result of

the continued efforts of a dedicated

and professional administration

and Board of Education, our fi scal

operations and fi nancial standing

are at this time no less than stellar