SCHOOLS Audit reveals Niles has fixed two citations

A financial reporting form omits four key areas, the auditor found.
NILES -- The city schools received three noncompliance citations in its latest audit, but there were no findings for recovery, and the district already has addressed two of the state auditor's concerns.
Auditor Betty Montgomery on Thursday released the audit for the period of July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2003.
One of the noncompliance citations centers on a requirement that money paid into a fund must be used only for that fund's established purpose. A food service $309,509 negative fund balance indicates that money from one fund was used to cover expenses of another.
The food service fund receives a majority of its money from the sale of school meals and reimbursements from the state and U.S. Department of Agriculture for the number of school meals served.
"It was apparent the money generated from these sources was not sufficient to meet the costs of operating the district's food service program," the audit states.
The state recommended that the district ensure the cost of operating the food service program is financed primarily through user charges, similar to that of a private business enterprise.
This finding is no longer valid and has been corrected.
The form
Another citation concerns the financial reporting form the schools must file each fiscal year. The district's financial statements omit assets, liabilities, fund equities and disclosures. The district could be fined for the omissions.
The auditor recommends the district prepare its financial report in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The audit report states this problem has not been corrected. The third citation states that no orders or contracts involving expenditure of money are to be made unless there is a certificate of the fiscal officer that the amount required has been lawfully appropriated and is in the treasury, or in the process of collection.
Before and After School Enrichment program procedures and cash collections revealed four areas of concern: payments received vs. deposits made; reconciling fees to payments received to billing sheets in student files; reimbursement requests to the Trumbull County Department of Job & amp; Family Services for eligible students; and a limited review of payments collected to deposits made.
The district has also corrected this, the audit states.