State Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Municipal & School Audits

September 30, 2024

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following local government and school audits were issued.

County of Putnam - Recreation and Golf Course Collections

The county's parks and recreation department and golf course did not always record, deposit, remit documentation and report collections accurately and in a timely manner. As a result, officials do not have assurance that all collections at the golf course were properly accounted for and deposited. Officials did not maintain records supporting the department's fiscal year 2022 collections. As a result, neither auditors nor county officials could determine whether all collections were recorded, deposited or remitted. For the 2023 fiscal year, 30% of the golf course deposits reviewed were inaccurate. The deposits contained variances totaling $6,180. Auditors also determined 97% percent of the daily golf course settlement reports reviewed were inaccurate.

Town of Evans - Employee Benefits (Erie County)

The town's leave records and separation payments were generally not accurate, supported and/or approved. Opt-out payments were generally accurate; however, they were not properly supported or approved. Auditors reviewed leave records for 27 of the town's 80 employees and determined that 373.5 of the 6,077 hours of leave time used by these employees were recorded incorrectly or not at all in the payroll system. Auditors also determined that four separation payments totaling $11,282 were inaccurate or unsupported and that the former town supervisor received four unsupported opt-out payments totaling $6,000. Officials were unable to explain why the former supervisor was treated differently than other board members. These errors and discrepancies occurred and were not detected or corrected due to a variety of factors including a decentralized process for maintaining leave records and a lack of oversight of leave records, separation payments and opt-out payments.

Town of Pitcairn - Claims Auditing (St. Lawrence County)

The board did not properly audit all claims prior to payment. Of 173 claims reviewed totaling $620,325, 96 claims totaling $207,884 had one or more exceptions, 46 claims totaling $38,138 were paid without evidence of an audit and 26 claims totaling $15,593 did not include adequate supporting documentation. This increased the risk that claims could have been paid for inappropriate purposes. Auditors also found 24 claims for diesel fuel totaling $66,516 and one paving claim totaling $99,691 were approved by the board without evidence that competition was sought. For example, a state diesel fuel contract could have saved the town about $3,000 on these purchases. Additionally, the board improperly donated $1,500 to a volunteer group and paid utility bills totaling $811 for a private organization.

West Babylon Union Free School District - Claims Audit (Suffolk County)

The claims auditor did not perform a proper audit of claims. As a result, there is an increased risk that goods and services may not have been received, and incorrect or inappropriate claims could be paid. Auditors reviewed 86 claims totaling $10 million and determined that 73 claims totaling $9.8 million had one or more deficiencies, including confirming purchase orders that were issued after goods or services were received, rather than having been approved before good or services were acquired, and inadequate supporting documentation. Auditors also found 21 claims totaling $3.1 million were not audited prior to payment in accordance with state law. Additionally, the claims auditor did not report directly to the board, did not note exceptions on the warrant and did not include all exceptions on her monthly reports.

Town of Pendleton - Capital Projects (Niagara County)

The board and supervisor did not ensure projects were properly planned or accounted for and did not monitor projects. As a result, the supervisor and board were unaware of total project costs, and the board could not effectively monitor the status of the projects or communicate the projects' status to taxpayers. Specifically, the supervisor and board did not establish project scope, timelines, cost or funding sources for any of the town's five projects or prepare detailed project budgets. The supervisor also did not account for the projects in separate capital projects funds.