The Columbia Borough School District exceeded its general fund budget appropriation by $732,000 in the last fiscal year, according to a 2015-16 Audit Report from Sager, Swisher, and Company. Mike Reiner, a partner in the accounting firm, announced the finding when he presented the report to the school board at its March meeting. When a resident questioned where the money went, Keith Ramsey, acting business manager for the district, said the majority of the overspending was due to a doubling up of transportation costs. The district moved from one carrier, IU13, to the Hempfield School District. Due to the way the IU bills through the transportation subsidy, the cost for the previous year was contained in the figure, essentially making it a double expenditure, according to Ramsey. Going forward, such costs will be only those of Hempfield.
The report also showed a budget of $20,700,000 for the 2015-16 fiscal year, with expenditures of $21,400,000.
