HFCS Gets High Marks For Handling Of Finances

by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board held a special meeting September 22 to hear John Bryans make a presentation on the audit his firm did of the District’s financial statements for the 08-09 school year. Bryans is one of the principals of his firm, Bryans & Gramuglia CPAs, LLC. It is based in Albany.
He said the audit gives the district an “unqualified” or “clean” opinion on its financial statements, which is the best that can be given. It means the examiners felt that the District’s financial statements are accurate and fairly stated, and that the District’s financial practices are sound, without exception. There were no significant findings of deficiencies or weaknesses, and no improprieties were noted.
Bryans said his firm spent 300 hours auditing the District, 200 of those hours actually on site in Hoosick Falls, and delivered a 51 page report on their findings. He called attention to some of the most interesting parts of his firm’s analysis of the District’s finances.
The first thing he mentioned is that the auditor is required to compute the District’s total liability for its contractual obligations to retirees, including the retirements of current staff. This is done using actuarial data concerning how long teachers and staff are expected to live in retirement, how much health insurance premiums are expected to go up in the future and so on. The number they came up with is a total liability of  $32 million. For accounting purposes, this is amortized over 30 years, so it is shown as an annual liability of $2.6 million. Bryans noted that actual payout last year was $850,000.
Bryans also pointed to the report’s analysis of budgeted amounts versus actual expenditures in various areas. The District spent slightly over a million dollars less than it budgeted last year, which is less than 5%. Bryans characterized this as conservative but reasonable budgeting. He said there are a number of things that can cause an unforeseen increase in expenditures during the course of a school year. Energy costs and special education costs were two that were mentioned. Or something can go wrong with the buildings or the buses that requires sudden large expenditures. It is only prudent, said Bryans, to budget enough to handle such situations. But if the budget is padded too much, he said, it means you are collecting more tax than you really need. That is why the State limits the amount of the fund balance that can be rolled over each year to 4%. But that is not occurring here, he said. When the administration is able to achieve cost savings through good management, as Hoosick Falls was able to do last year in transportation and some other areas, spending less than budget should not be viewed as a fault. When actual expenditures are within 5% of budget, as they were last year, the District’s budgeting can be deemed reasonable and prudent.
All present seemed pleased with the District’s financial performance and with Bryans’ report.