NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Halvonik 717 787-1381
Audit Text

Auditor General Jack Wagner Finds Pennsylvania Owes $87,455 to Dallastown Area School District

HARRISBURG, May 29, 2009 – Auditor General Jack Wagner said today that an audit of the Dallastown Area School District in York County found that, because of errors in reporting, the school district was underpaid $87,455 by the Pennsylvania Department of Education from 2002 to 2005.

Wagner recommended that the school district work with the Department of Education to resolve the underpayment through an adjustment in the school district’s future state allocations.

“As auditor general, my job is to ensure that school districts receive the funds to which they are entitled, and that school districts comply with state laws,” Wagner said. “In this case, the Dallastown Area School District did not receive funds to which it was entitled. The Department of Education should work with school district officials to rectify this funding gap found by our audit, as soon as possible.”

Child accounting guidelines and instructions require the accurate reporting of pupil membership days and student classification, because these are major factors in calculating various state subsidies and reimbursements.

Wagner’s audit found that the majority of the underpayment was a result of errors in reporting, which consisted of incorrectly classifying non-resident students placed in private homes in other districts as district-paid tuition students during the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years.

The fact that the school district underreported the number of non-resident students is significant because school districts are reimbursed at a higher level for non-resident students than for resident students, Wagner said.

Auditors found the school district was underpaid $13,347 for the 2002-03 school year, $38,923 for 2003-04 and $35,185 for 2004-05.

Wagner’s audit also found that inadequate documentation and failure to properly follow instructions resulted in the school district having unverifiable transportation reimbursements.
The complete audit report is available on the Department of the Auditor General’s Web site at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.

Auditor General Jack Wagner is responsible for ensuring that all state money is spent legally and properly. He is the Commonwealth’s elected independent fiscal watchdog, conducting financial audits, performance audits and special investigations. The Department of the Auditor General conducts more than 5,000 audits per year. To learn more about the Department of the Auditor General, taxpayers are encouraged to visit the department’s Web site at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.

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