Audit committee selects employee and retiree benefits administration as this year’s focus

John Durey, chair of the Newburgh City School District Audit and Finance Committee, said the panel had selected ‘‘employee and retiree benefits administration’’ as this year’s focus for internal audit work. "The area we've selected is, employee and retiree benefits administration," Durey said, signaling a closer review of how the district administers benefits.

The move responds to the committee’s concern about scale and oversight. An unidentified committee member told the group that benefits constitute "70 plus million dollars a year" in district expenses and that the topic has not been audited in at least eight years. Committee members also noted the state comptroller’s office has been reviewing benefits administration in other districts.

RBT, the outside accounting firm present at the meeting, plans to perform risk-assessment fieldwork in May, and the committee was told it could expect a formal report later this summer or in early fall depending on the depth of the review. "We have a bit of lead time on this because we have, I believe, over 12 months before this report would actually have to be filed with the state," an unidentified committee member said, outlining a tentative schedule for fieldwork and reporting.

Committee members discussed logistics to help auditors obtain documents. An auditor at the meeting said last year’s internal-audit process had been "very rough" and that staff had experienced difficulty providing requested information. The committee identified the district treasurer as the official responsible for coordinating audits and named a staff member called "Greta" as the likely operational contact for the audit team. Members asked that the board clerk and other relevant staff be copied on information requests to ensure timely responses.

After reviewing the audit scope and schedule, the committee recessed into executive session to discuss employee employment histories. The motion to enter executive session was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee returned to open session and then voted to adjourn.

The committee’s next steps are for RBT to begin fieldwork, for staff to confirm a primary contact and document access process, and for the audit team to deliver a risk-assessment and report on benefits administration later this year.