POCANTICO HILLS - School district officials bypassed state law when they made $66,101 in purchases without competitive bids, according to a state audit released last week.
The audit also found that 10 purchases by employees, totaling $32,125, allowed them to circumvent the purchase-order system.
"If school districts do not properly bid contracts as required by law, they may be wasting taxpayer dollars by paying more than necessary for goods and services," state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said.
The report also criticized the district's claims auditor for not having "a clear understanding of how to perform her responsibilities to comply with Education Law requirements."
For example, the report says, "The claims auditor did not review seven claims totaling $228,809 paid with manually prepared checks prior to payment."
The claims included payments made for professional and contractual services.
"School districts cannot take the claims auditor's duties lightly or they risk letting errors go undetected and uncorrected," DiNapoli said.
The report covers the period from July 1, 2006, to April 30, 2008.
The Board of Education agreed with the findings and recommendations in the report, said Jay Scotto-Friedman, the district's assistant superintendent for finance and support services.
Friedman also said professional development was being provided to the district staff to educate them on the correct procedures to follow while making purchases.
As far as the competitive bids, Friedman said the district would use bids prepared by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the state and the county in the future.
The report also says the district did not have adequate written policies and procedures to provide guidance for the protection of electronic data.
Friedman said the district was working with the regional information center through BOCES to improve the process.
A new claims auditor, with "more experience" was hired by the district July 1, he said.
"We appreciate the Comptroller's Office in assisting Pocantico Hills to more effectively manage its operations," he said.
Reach Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy at svenugop@lohud.com or 914-694-5004.
