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Taylor Releases Lorain City School District Audit

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Lorain County -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor today released the fiscal year 2007 audit for Lorain City School District.  The audit reports that many of the district funds are operating with a cash deficit totaling more than $2.4 million. 

“School districts must keep a watchful eye on their fund balances because every dollar counts when it comes to educating our children,” said Taylor.  “It’s important that schools operate in a financially stable manner to ensure resources are available to continue to provide a quality education for their students.”

The audit shows that the following funds are operating with cash deficits totaling $2,421,942.
Alternative Education,  $12,079
District Managed Act, $319,543
General fund, $968,657
JROTC, $226,219
Lunchroom ,$102,810
MIS, $26,050
Misc. Federal Grants, $697,495
Misc. State Grants, $67,669
Title IV,  $1,420

Additionally, the district did not set aside funds to pay for utilities, excess costs and legal fees that accumulated in fiscal year 2007.  Due to this oversight, the funds will not be paid until fiscal year 2008. 

The audit shows that the school district’s accounts payable did not list $721,713 in funds owed.  It also notes that funds received by other government agenices were overstated by $726,800.  However, the appropriate adjustments were made during the course of the audit and their financial statements now reflect the accurate amount.

Lorain City School District was placed in fiscal caution on June 23, 2007 because of potential fund balance deficits.

A copy of the full audit is available online at http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/AuditSearch/Reports/2008/Lorain_CSD_07-Lorain.pdf

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The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office is one of the largest accounting offices in the nation.  The office strives to ensure that all public funds are spent legally and appropriately and works aggressively to root out fraud, waste and abuse in public spending.  Taylor encourages anyone suspecting fraud or misspending of public dollars to contact her office toll free at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).  Since taking office in January 2007, Taylor has identified more than $10.9 million in public funds that were spent illegally and must be repaid.