St. Mary’s County Public Schools Auditor Todd Albaugh
Leonardtown, MD — An auditor’s report of the St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) for the end of Fiscal Year 2016 confirms an almost $12 million fund balance, an increase of more than $5 million. The fund balance includes savings of $1.3 million for health care and $1.2 million for energy costs.
The report was released to the St. Mary’s County Board of Education this week and discussed at their Sept. 26 meeting by Todd Albaugh of the Frederick, MD CPA firm RSM US LP. Albaugh reported no significant accounting issues and praised the staff of Chief Financial Officer Tammy Macourt.
When the pending surplus was revealed to the school board last month they decided to allocate $2 million to new reading textbooks and $500,000 to additional maintenance projects. But when School Superintendent Scott Smith and Macourt appeared before the county commissioners Sept. 20 they balked at approving the fund transfer. Instead they tabled the decision pending the release of the audit.
The report of the surplus brought raised eyebrows among the commissioners and some strong criticism. It was noted that just a few months ago the school board was pleading poverty and asking for additional funding from the county. They also did not give staff the salary increase included in a negotiated agreement, forcing a renegotiation.
Commissioner John O’Connor (R — 3rd District) suggested to table the motion, and Commissioner Todd Morgan (R — 4th District] was the most critical, calling it “ironic” about the switch in the school system’s financial fortunes.
“Now all of a sudden $2.5 million appears again.” Smith responded it wasn’t necessary ironic but a result of good fiscal stewardship.
At the Sept. 28 school board meeting, Vice Chairman Mary Washington pointed out that the unexpected health care savings for pharmaceuticals was initiated by their health care provider Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maryland. Albaugh confirmed that it was a surprise to him as well.
Washington also noted that much of that almost $12 million fund balance was in restricted funds for other uses, including a $4 million fund balance to cover the miscellaneous health care costs.
No one gave an explanation for why the fuel savings weren’t anticipated earlier, since fuel prices have been low for quite some time.
With audit in hand, Smith and the school board will now have to go back to the commissioners to plead their case for the one-time use of the extra money for textbooks and maintenance. When the surplus was reported, Macourt insisted the fiscally prudent thing to do would be to spend it on one-time costs instead of recurring costs, such as salaries, since the savings were one-time events.
The school board recently put out a request for bids for accounting services and Albaugh’s firm, which has handled the accounting for a number of years, did not bid. He explained to the board that he is moving to the firm’s Anchorage, AK office, and his absence would leave the local office with no school system accounting expert.
The school board approved the recommended award of the accounting contract to SB & Company, LLC of Hunt Valley, MD. Supervisor of Accounting and Auditing Scott Springer explained that the five bidders were ranked 90 percent on technical expertise. But it turned out that the bid of the firm chosen was $30,000 less than what the school system was being charged by RSM US LP.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com