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Audit and Finance Committee flags PO overruns, stale checks and opaque lunch-fund descriptions
Summary
The committee reviewed the claims auditor report, noting improved warrant descriptions and reissuance of stale checks but flagged ten nursing-services payments that exceeded purchase orders by $53 and four Amazon-related payments that exceeded purchase orders by $43.09; committee members pressed for clearer food-service vendor descriptions.
The Newburgh City School District Audit and Finance Committee on May 13 reviewed a claims auditor report that the committee said showed clearer warrant descriptions and identified operational issues that need attention.
Committee members thanked accounts payable staff for improved descriptions on warrants and noted the district is reissuing stale checks identified in the audit. At the same time, the claims-auditor review flagged purchase-order (PO) overruns: 10 nursing-service payments exceeded their POs by $53 each, and four payments to Amazon Capital exceeded POs by $43.09.
Why it matters: PO overruns and vague vendor descriptions reduce transparency and complicate budget monitoring; nursing services are often mandated and therefore have financial and operational implications.
A committee member who reviewed the warrants said, “I also noticed that, on a couple of things in spec ed, nursing services payments exceeded the purchase order by $53. There were 10 of those. And then for Amazon Capital, there were 4 payments where it says that the payments exceeded the purchase order by $43.09.”
Mr. Rothman, district staff, said the district follows up with requisitioners when overruns occur and explained one recurring cause for Amazon orders: price locking windows. “We've actually worked with Amazon where the prices are locked in for a longer time because what was happening is they were only locked in for a week,” he said, describing delays in approvals that can push an order past the locked price. Rothman said the district asks requisitioners to confirm that deliveries and prices matched expectations and that POs can be increased when necessary.
Committee members also raised the lunch fund’s warrant descriptions, which several said remain too general (for example, entries listed simply as “food service” or “equipment repair”). Committee members urged more granular vendor and purpose descriptions to make review easier.
Other operational notes included ongoing food-service staffing vacancies and nationwide vendor supply issues cited by the food-service director; staff said a recent reorganization moved a food-service finance role into central finance to improve oversight.
Less-urgent follow-up: staff committed to researching the nursing-services PO overruns and to report back to the committee; the accounts payable department will continue improving warrant descriptions.
