Bill > A2965

Introduced Session

Repeated performance audits of school districts by the State Auditor have uncovered blatant abuses of taxpayer dollars in myriad ways. To root out fraud and abuse, save taxpayer dollars, and lower property taxes, this bill expands the authority of the State Auditor concerning performance audits of school districts. This bill also requires the State Auditor to annually issue a compendium report on school district audits from the previous five years to the Governor, Legislature, Commissioner of Education in the Department of Education, Assembly Education Committee, and Senate Education Committee. The report will also be transmitted to the board of education of each school district and posted on the State Auditor's website. The report from the State Auditor will include: (1) a list of recommended best practices and safeguards for school districts to implement; and (2) a standardized response form for school districts to submit. The report will allow school districts to stay updated on best practices and summarize what has succeeded and failed in school districts across the State. Within 60 days of the submission of the report, each school district is required to respond to the Office of the State Auditor. The certified response will include: (1) a statement regarding the level of compliance by the school district in relation to each of the State Auditor's recommendations; (2) a summary of the steps taken by the school district to implement the State Auditor's recommended best practices and safeguards; and (3) explanations from the school district concerning impediments in complying with the State Auditor's recommended best practices and safeguards. The responses will aid the Office of the State Auditor in highlighting school districts that do not meet recommended best practices and safeguards. The bill expands the authority of the Office of the State Auditor to audit school districts the State Auditor feels does not meet appropriate standards. The State Auditor will also conduct performance audits of a random sampling of school districts on an annual basis. Any school district that makes a willfully false or misleading statement in a certified response to the State Auditor regarding the recommendations as discovered by a performance audit will reimburse the Office of the State Auditor for the cost of conducting the performance audit. This bill creates a special non-lapsing fund in the Department of the Treasury to be known as the "School District Performance Audit Reimbursement Fund." The fund will serve as a depository for monies collected from school districts. The fund will be administered by the State Treasurer, in conjunction with the State Auditor, and all interest on monies in the fund will be credited to the fund. The monies in the fund will be appropriated annually to the Office of the State Auditor to be used exclusively for the implementation of this bill, including increased funding for annual audits required by current law on any school district in which the State aid equals 80 percent or more of its net budget. This bill also requires an annual appropriation of $1.5 million from the General Fund to the Office of the State Auditor for the costs of implementing the provisions of the bill. The annual appropriation will be reduced by the monies deposited in the fund.

AI Summary

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Jay Webber (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 02/20/2020)