GOWANDA: District incorrect with taxpayer funds
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office is correct to call out the Gowanda Central School district for not properly managing its fund balance and reserves. Gowanda, like so many other districts, builds up those savings for a rainy day.
In the process of doing so, they continue to place an unnecessary burden on residents who help fund the district.
DiNapoli’s report spans July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023. The audit claims the district consistently overestimated general fund appropriations from 2020-21 through 2022-23 by a total of $13.1 million and appropriated nearly $6.7 million of fund balance that was not needed or used. According to the report, the District overestimated its budget by 14.7% over the three-year period, beginning in 2020-2021, at an average of approximately $4.4 million per year.
District officials went on the defensive. “I don’t think the State Comptroller’s Office agrees with our funding levels, but that’s their prerogative,” said Business Administrator Barb Smith.
Her response almost appears to be a statement of arrogance.
Gowanda — and all other districts — run on taxpayer dollars. As inflation continues to increase, residents are being squeezed for life’s essentials while contributing to community functions.
“We’re looking ahead, knowing with Foundation Aid, we don’t know what that’s going to look like,” Smith additionally said. “We have surpluses these years, so in the future years, that’s why we have these. They are savings accounts, they are meant to be spent in future years.”
Realistically, that is not how it should work. Schools are limited to how much should be in their reserves. Usually that’s about 4%.
In this case, Gowanda went too far.