Gates Chili board hears finance report; independent audit approved unanimously

Sally Sanford, the district's director of finance, told the Gates Chili Central School District Board of Education that the business and finance office continued to use zero-based budgeting, manage grants and investments and had received another unqualified independent audit opinion for the 2024-25 year. The board then voted unanimously to approve the independent audit presented by EFPR Group CPAs PLLC.

Sanford highlighted day-to-day operations and recent performance metrics. "Zero-based budgeting...meaning that we start from scratch each year," she said, describing the district's budgeting method. She told the board the business office issued more than 6,411 payments to vendors last year and the purchasing department issued over 4,000 purchase orders in the 2024-25 school year. The office oversees 10 grants totaling $3,300,000 and provided fiscal oversight during the pandemic for ARP, CARES and FEMA funding totaling more than $12,000,000.

The presentation also covered the district's investment strategy and banking practices. Sanford said Gates Chili achieved a top score on a district investment metric, noting, "We have earned a 100 Cash Vest score again." She said the district has invested $17,200,000 in a long-term vehicle to preserve yield and reported interest earnings of approximately $6,300,000 over the past two fiscal years. Sanford explained the business office has reduced paper checks relative to ACH transfers to improve efficiency and reduce fraud risk, moving to an approximate 8-to-1 ratio of ACH payments to paper checks. She also said the district will begin paying officials through Arbiter, a third-party service that supports direct deposit for event officials.

Board members approved the independent audit as an action item after Sanford's report. The audit presentation to the board said the district again received an unqualified (clean) opinion for 2024-25, indicating the financial statements are accurate and in accordance with accounting standards. No public questions were recorded during the finance report.

Votes at a glance: - Independent audit for fiscal year ending 06/30/2025, presented by EFPR Group CPAs PLLC — motion: Ms. Littlewood; second: Ms. Davis; outcome: approved (unanimous). - Consensus items C through H — motion and second not specified in the transcript; outcome: approved (unanimous).

The finance presentation was followed by the board's consent and action items; no additional financial directions or follow-up tasks were recorded during the meeting.