Finance committee reviews fiscal year-end reserve plan, affirms purchasing policy approach; minutes approved 3-0

At its May 16 meeting, the Niskayuna Central School District Finance Committee reviewed the district's draft fiscal year-end reserve fund plan and discussed the district purchasing policy required for annual reaffirmation.

Staff said the draft reserve plan follows an "order of operations" that first maintains assigned fund balances set during budget development, then targets an unassigned fund balance at the 4% level allowed by state law, and sets aside funds for encumbrances and employee benefit accrued liabilities. "Maintaining funding for accrued liabilities positions us to meet future payouts," the presenter said. The presenter added that the district calculates a tax-claim reserve and targets 80% of potential liability when gauging required reserves.

Staff recommended prioritizing any remaining year-end balance to the district's 2024 voter-approved capital reserve. The presenter noted that the district closed contributions to the 2016 capital reserve last year and began making initial contributions to the 2024 capital reserve, which staff said has a $25,000,000 ceiling and a 10-year limit based on the ballot language.

Committee members asked whether the district planned to increase funding for TRS (Teachers' Retirement System) reserves; staff said they are not recommending an increase now and judged capital-reserve contributions a better use of one-time funds this year. A committee member asked for clarification about which reserves are near targets; staff said insurance and workers-comp funds are near two years' expense targets and that tax-claim liability is expected to decrease this year because of recent settlements.

On procurement, staff described the district purchasing policy, noting a substantial update adopted in fall 2022 that set thresholds for quotes and bids and increased use of RFP cycles for professional services. Staff said the district's special-area audit of purchasing returned a clean report and that the updated policy has improved training and transparency. Committee members said the policy is clear and user-friendly and signaled comfort recommending it to the full board for affirmation at the organizational meeting.

The committee approved the meeting minutes by voice vote. The clerk announced the motion passed "3-0." No other formal actions were taken at the finance-committee level on the reserve plan or purchasing policy; staff said the reserve plan will culminate with board action at the June meeting.