The Syracuse School District's Chief Financial Officer went before the Finance Committee of the Syracuse Common Council Friday to answer questions about a controversial state audit of district finances. Suzanne Slack said she was confident that a future audit would not find the same problems.
The State Comptroller's audit released last week criticized the district for:
-$107,000 in unauthorized school bank accounts
-$19,500 in improper payments to school employees
-$1.2 million in financial records errors.
-not complying with purchasing policies in the awarding of 10 contracts.
-reporting part time employees as full time to the state retirement system.
Two city councilors are now calling for a big shakeup in the way the school district handles its finances.
Finance Committee Chairman Ryan McMahon called for the consolidation of the school financial operation with city hall's. "By maybe looking at consolidating the financial operations with the city, we have have better systems and better controls." McMahon explained, "So the taxpayers know that every dollars that's being spent on education goes to education."
Councilor Pat Hogan is calling upon the Mayor's office to take control of the school district. "We've come to the fork in the road where we should look at direct mayoral control of the school district."
Hogan and McMahon said past audits have also found fault with the school district's handling of its finances.
Mayor-elect Stephanie Miner issued a statement saying, "The recent Comptroller's audit clearly indicates that the Syracuse City School District must change its fiscal practices."
Miner said it is "important that we leave creative options on the table so we can maximize accountability for taxpayers and improve our schools..."
"As Mayor, I will certainly look at all ideas and I have charged my transition team with exploring all ideas." according to the statement.
