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Claims officer outlines district review process, reports March claims totals
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Summary
Michael Wolf, the district claims officer, told the Berlin Central School District board he reviews disbursements against a ‘need vs. nice-to-have’ test and an 'auditorium' test; he reported about 150 March claims totaling roughly $1.5 million with four exceptions and described remote-scanning and timing controls.
Michael Wolf, the district’s claims officer, told the Berlin Central School District board on April 21 that his office acts as the board’s financial gatekeeper for payables and procurement.
“I’m signing your signatures on every single bill I approve,” Wolf said, describing the role created by state rules to centralize routine approvals. He said the office runs two principal tests on questionable items — whether an expense is a need or a want, and an ‘auditorium test’ that asks whether a superintendent or board president would be comfortable explaining the expenditure to taxpayers.
Wolf said the March report he provided to the board showed about 150 claims totaling approximately $1,500,000 and noted four exceptions, three confirming purchase orders and one invoice with a $20 late fee. He defined “exceptions” as procedural items that do not necessarily indicate improper purchases but may reflect missing quotations, state-contract procedures or documentation issues.
Wolf described the district’s move to remote scanning: batches arrive roughly every two weeks, the business office emails a packet to him (typically on Tuesday) and he generally has four days to review items before checks are cut on Friday. He said a typical review can take three to four hours on a busy day and that many issues are resolved by the business office (for example, reversing late fees or requesting supplemental paperwork).
When board members asked whether they ever directly approve purchase orders or recommend vendors, Wolf said that is not customary: the administrative staff initiates orders, a multi-step approval workflow routes approvals through departments and the district’s business office, and his office conducts the final check.
Wolf also said the district’s error-rate goal was on his report and that Berlin’s performance placed it near the top of his 14‑district caseload. He encouraged trustees to contact him directly if they see an item in his report that concerns them.
The presentation concluded with Wolf reiterating that he would bring any suspected fraud directly to the board and that, in his 14 years in similar roles, he had elevated concerns to the board only twice.
