Politics & Government

Nassau Schools to Bid Jointly for Audit Services

Savings estimated at $300,000 to $600,000 per year.

School districts in Nassau County will soon be able to reduce the amount they spend on auditing  services, collectively saving them about $600,000 a year.

“At a time of economic difficulty for all Nassau County residents, we’re dedicated to exploring ways to achieve savings,” Nassau Executive Ed Mangano said Monday afternoon at the .

The new initiative from the the Nassau School and Municipal Savings Committee calls for the sharing of internal auditing services which could save districts as much as $600,000 if all 56 school districts joined the cooperative bid.

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County Comptroller George Maragos stated that six auditing firms have responded and two or three would be chosen as vendors when the contract is awarded on April 22. The choice of firms would be offered to the participating school districts, 35 of which have signed on.

“We’re hoping that once the (bids) come back, more than 35 districts will agree to participate once they see the costs involved,” Oceanside Superintendent Herb Brown said.

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Currently each district hires its own auditors, negotiating contracts with each firm individually. Internal auditors cost between $25,000 and $80,000 a year and about $2 million across the entire county. The cost savings is realized on an annual basis since auditing is a recurring expense and is based on the size of each district’s budget. New York State law requires that a bid be placed for such an auditor every 5 years.

Brown described the arrangement as “a spirit of cooperation which the schools, talking with the county and the comptroller and the other municipalities will now and in the future continue to have these conversations in other areas that are ripe for savings.”

In the wake of the Roslyn school financial scandal, New York state required school districts to utilize three auditors to verify their financial statements: external, internal and internal claims. The internal auditor conducts risk assessment, certifies that State controls are adhered to, and makes recommendations.

“We thought that was most ripe for savings,” Brown said when asked why the internal auditor was targeted over the other two required auditors. “Once we have the results back we’ll look at the claims auditing and the external auditing as well.”

The county has also formed shared services initiatives for bus transportation, fuel and natural gas and telecommunications.

“We as school districts benefited, the county benefitted, any other public entity in Nassau County benefitted,” said Herricks Superintendent John Bierwirth, who is vocal about moving on to a technology cooperative next.

“We can be part of a joint bid, but we cannot be share facilities and equipment and in the IT world that’s huge because the capital investment is enormous,” he said.

Governments and school districts especially  are anticipated to spend millions over the next decade in information technology as they upgrade computers and their networks.

“If we can share those things, we can cut those costs significantly,” Bierwirth said.

Mineola school Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler could not be reached for comment on this story.


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