Niagara Falls School Board limits credit card spending to $50,000
In response to a state audit that criticized wasteful spending and sloppy controls over credit card use, the Niagara Falls School Board has limited all district credit card spending to $50,000 to be shared by four designated employees.
The new policy approved Thursday entitles Superintendent Cynthia Bianco, Deputy Superintendent Mark Laurrie, district purchasing agent Marie Maynard and district clerk Ruthel Dumas to Chase credit cards for district-related expenditures.
When state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli censured the district in a lengthy audit last fall, 38 employees had credit cards in the district’s name and other employees were being given unauthorized access to use the cards. Over a two-year period audited, more than $630,000 was purchased by district employees using credit cards.
Since then, purchasing cards for all employees have been taken away and the four approved Thursday will be the only people using the credit cards, said board member Christopher Brown, who also heads the board’s audit committee.
“There’s nothing wrong with the district using credit cards, but under the old system, there were too many credit cards,” Brown said. “There is a need to have credit cards for a set number of responsible persons for emergencies.”
Board members and administrators did not agree Thursday on what limit they had previously agreed upon.
Bianco said the planned limit was $150,000 for the four cardholders, delineated as $25,000 each for Bianco and Laurrie, $50,000 for Dumas to book staff flights and hotel rooms for conferences and $50,000 for Maynard. Because staff members used to have their own cards, the four cardholders will be spending more than they had in the past, Bianco added.
Brown disputed that amount, saying the board had previously discussed a $50,000 cap for all four combined. Other board members were unsure. Board attorney Angelo Massaro recommended the board approve an amount Thursday, subject to change later if the limit is not enough.
“I’m glad we set the limit at $50,000,” Brown said after the meeting. “It will be up for discussion, but personally, I won’t have it be more than that. That’s plenty, and any emergency that comes up, we can certainly convene an emergency meeting if we need something more.”
Limits had been set on most cards when DiNapoli reviewed the district’s credit card procedures, but the audit found those controls were routinely circumvented. In addition, retired Superintendent Carmen Granto had no spending limit and a Buffalo News investigation found Granto had used his card at will for meals, alcohol and golf outings.
In other action Thursday, Laurrie was officially named Bianco’s deputy. His new salary is $120,343, up from $118,798.
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