Norwich, Oxford schools appear on comptroller’s fiscal stress report
CHENANGO COUNTY – On Thursday New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced 26 school districts in the state are fiscally stressed to varying degrees, including Norwich City School District (NCSD) and Oxford Academy and Central School District (OACSD).
The report finds NCSD to be significantly fiscally stressed, with a fiscal score of 70.0, along with four other districts in the state. OACSD was deemed susceptible to fiscal stress by the comptroller’s office with a fiscal score of 33.3, along with 20 other districts in the state.
According to the comptroller’s office, the scores are calculated based on financial information submitted as part of each district’s ST-3 financial report filed with the State Education Department as of December 28, 2018.
NCSD Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said Monday the designation comes as no surprise as the district was deemed moderately fiscally stressed in January 2018.
“In that time the district has undertaken a number of proactive steps to right size the organization including offering recent retirement incentives and cutting overhead costs,” said O’Sullivan. “The board of education has been keenly aware of the fiscal challenges that have and will confront the district, including rising employee healthcare costs, and has been intimately involved in these discussions since late last year.”
O’Sullivan added the district will continue to focus on reducing costs associated with recent increases in its budget development process, despite a nominal increase in state aid.
OACSD Superintendent Shawn Bissetta said his district is in no way experiencing a financial crisis, and appears on the report only for undergoing a planned utilization of fund balance to comply with audit recommendations from the comptroller following a 2016 audit.
“At that time the audit noted that the district should take measures to ensure that the unappropriated fund balance did not exceed the four percent limit recommended by New York State,” said Bissetta. “In order to comply with the audit recommendations, the district underwent a planned utilization of fund balance over the past two years. Unfortunately the formula through which the fiscal stress score is derived assigns districts points for using fund balance.”
Bissetta said had the planned use of fund balance not occurred, the district would have received no designation – the lowest level of fiscal stress assigned by the comptroller’s office – on the fiscal stress report.
“This fiscal balancing act will remain a challenge moving forward, with drastically rising health insurance costs and increased special education costs presenting particular challenges to the district,” said Bissetta. “We will continue to utilize long-term budget planning practices that will allow us to provide outstanding services for our students while being respectful of our taxpayers.”
For a list of school districts designated in fiscal stress, visit www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/schools/pdf/2018/stress-list.pdf
For the complete list of school district fiscal stress scores, visit www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/index.htm.
The report finds NCSD to be significantly fiscally stressed, with a fiscal score of 70.0, along with four other districts in the state. OACSD was deemed susceptible to fiscal stress by the comptroller’s office with a fiscal score of 33.3, along with 20 other districts in the state.
According to the comptroller’s office, the scores are calculated based on financial information submitted as part of each district’s ST-3 financial report filed with the State Education Department as of December 28, 2018.
NCSD Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said Monday the designation comes as no surprise as the district was deemed moderately fiscally stressed in January 2018.
“In that time the district has undertaken a number of proactive steps to right size the organization including offering recent retirement incentives and cutting overhead costs,” said O’Sullivan. “The board of education has been keenly aware of the fiscal challenges that have and will confront the district, including rising employee healthcare costs, and has been intimately involved in these discussions since late last year.”
O’Sullivan added the district will continue to focus on reducing costs associated with recent increases in its budget development process, despite a nominal increase in state aid.
OACSD Superintendent Shawn Bissetta said his district is in no way experiencing a financial crisis, and appears on the report only for undergoing a planned utilization of fund balance to comply with audit recommendations from the comptroller following a 2016 audit.
“At that time the audit noted that the district should take measures to ensure that the unappropriated fund balance did not exceed the four percent limit recommended by New York State,” said Bissetta. “In order to comply with the audit recommendations, the district underwent a planned utilization of fund balance over the past two years. Unfortunately the formula through which the fiscal stress score is derived assigns districts points for using fund balance.”
Bissetta said had the planned use of fund balance not occurred, the district would have received no designation – the lowest level of fiscal stress assigned by the comptroller’s office – on the fiscal stress report.
“This fiscal balancing act will remain a challenge moving forward, with drastically rising health insurance costs and increased special education costs presenting particular challenges to the district,” said Bissetta. “We will continue to utilize long-term budget planning practices that will allow us to provide outstanding services for our students while being respectful of our taxpayers.”
For a list of school districts designated in fiscal stress, visit www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/schools/pdf/2018/stress-list.pdf
For the complete list of school district fiscal stress scores, visit www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/index.htm.
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