I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
“Alarmed” over a late Taos Municipal Schools 2009 audit and a new report describing missing financial records and purchasing irregularities, State Auditor Hector Balderas has ordered “special monitoring” of the school district by his staff, he wrote in a June 3 letter to Superintendent Rod Weston and state Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia.
The Taos school district’s accounting firm, Moss Adams, submitted a report to Balderas June 2 regarding district accounting procedures and irregularities.
The school district has failed to comply with state laws requiring documentation of the disposal of school property, failed to properly document its contracts and purchases, mismanaged federal grant money, and has skirted state procurement laws, the report states.
The district recently awarded a $1.8 million contract to a construction firm despite a signficantly lower $1.2 million bid from another firm, the report states.
“I am alarmed that the District’s documentation is inadequate to substantiate numerous expenditures,” Balderas wrote. “(T)he District does not maintain the proper documentation required to support a wide range of financial transactions, including the procurement and payment of vendors, payment to school employees, and disbursements under federal grants.”
The District’s 2009 audit is more than seven months overdue, Balderas wrote. The deadline for the state-mandated annual independent audit was November 15.
The June 2 report identified more than $40,000 in school district payroll expenses that were improperly charged to federal Medicaid grants, placing future federal grants to the district in jeopardy, Balderas wrote.
Moss Adams identified an overstatement of more than $400,000 in district “fixed assets,” or property owned by the schools.
Bleachers declared “unsalvageable” by the school district were sold for $15,000 by a school subcontractor who kept the money, the report states.
The firm also reported that school district contract bids for construction, school bus services and other services were missing, including bid score sheets and pricing analysis for a $10 million construction contract awarded in 2003.
“The District’s failures and deficiencies illustrated by the report place the District at risk for fraud and misappropriation of taxpayer funds,” Balderas wrote. “(W)ithout proper supporting documentation or a timely financial audit, the District’s expenditures are questionable and no one can gain any certainty or reliability about the District’s use of public dollars.”
Balderas demanded the school board investigate district finances and prepare a corrective action strategy “without delay,” and that the district submit its overdue 2009 audit.
Several New Mexico school districts have failed to submit audits in recent years, and audit findings suggest many others are at risk of fraud and embezzlement, The Independent reported last month.
Former Jemez Mountains School District business manager Kathy Borrego committed suicide May 8, after pleading guilty to embezzlement and fraud charges stemming from a $3.4 million theft of school funds.
