Auditor Discusses Surplus Reduction

The outside auditor of Millburn Township School District gave Millburn schools a clean bill of health this week and noted that the surplus had been reduced for the next school year by $480,000.

Board members asked the auditor, Kathryn Mantell of Nisivoccia & Company, how the surplus – which this year is about $2.8 and next year will be about $2.3 – compares with other school districts.

At a little more than 3 percent, Millburn’s surplus, she said, is about where she would expect it to be and is on par with other districts Millburn’s size.

“When you are dealing with a $76 million budget and you’re faced with costs you didn’t anticipate, 3 percent is not a bad,” she said.

However, some districts operate with far less surplus, but she wouldn’t recommend it because they end up in trouble if unexpected expenditures arise.

In the previous year, Millburn had some issues in its audit when it came to health insurance benefits. Last year, Mantell reported to the board that district had been carrying an extra $1.5 million for prepaid health insurance for five years that was never properly reported in the books.

Because of that catch and extra money, school board members were able to hold taxes to 1.35 percent when they passed this year’s $76.5 million budget.

But this year, the auditor’s report said “all of the prior year [auditor's] recommendations have been resolved during the current fiscal year, except for the recommendation regarding student activities,” which the auditor included as a recommendation for this year.

That recommendation is that “funds collected for the Student Activities and Athletic count are deposited in a timely manner and that detailed cash ledgers are maintained for all student activities accounts, and copies of receipt are prepared and given to student activities advisors when funds are turned over to the main office."

The matter of a surplus has been long been an issue.

“People complain that we are holding too much money,” said Board President “Michael Birnberg. “We take a lot of heat every year about this – that it should be given back to the taxpayers.

Board member promised to reduce the surplus, said Jeff Waters who led the finance committee last year, and they brought it down to $200,000 less than last year’s.

“And next year we will have $500,000 less than we have now,” he said. “To the extent that we have had stated goal of winding that down, we are doing that.”

Residents complained that there is still a large surplus and times are tough and told the boar that they will have hold the line on taxes again this year, as more people lose their jobs or are otherwise adversely affect by Wall Street.