Albany - After an audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found that the Great Neck Union Free School District awarded $1.3 million in contracts to five vendors without adhering to competitive bidding requirements, school district officials agreed to improve its procurement procedures when awarding future contracts.

“The purpose of school district audits is to help districts identify where controls are working well and where they need to be improved,” DiNapoli said. “Our audit of the Great Neck school district will help the district improve its procedures for purchasing goods and services.  I appreciate the cooperation Great Neck school officials extended to our audit team, including providing appropriate back-up material.”  

When purchase contracts exceed $10,000 or public works contracts are greater than $20,000, General Municipal Law and the district’s own procurement policy require that these contracts be publicly advertised for bids and awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.  These requirements ensure the district gets the best possible price.  

Auditors reviewed electrical work contracts from 2001 to 2006 and found the district entered in to an additional $765,000 in contracts with a second electrical contractor that did not meet competitive bidding requirements.

The audit recommends that school district officials:

• follow provisions of the General Municipal Law regarding competitive bidding requirements;
• establish dollar limitations on budgetary transfers that the superintendent can approve;
• properly segregate the duties of the treasurer.