New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of Brentwood Public Library, Emergency Service Communication Surcharges, Village of Milford, Village of Nassau and the Town of Pendleton.
"In today's fiscal climate, budget transparency and accountability for our local communities is a top priority," said DiNapoli. "By auditing municipal finances and operations, my office continues to provide taxpayers the assurance that their money is being spent appropriately and effectively."
Brentwood Public Library – Leave Accruals (Suffolk County)
Leave accrual records for business office employees were overstated by a total of 272 hours. Vacation, sick and personal leave earned exceeded collective bargaining agreement limits, and vacation and sick leave was accrued and/or used at rates other than specified.
Emergency Service Communication Surcharges (2017MS-4)
Each county in this audit could improve controls over E911 revenues. One county (Schenectady) made significant improvements in controls over E911 revenues. However, because no resource exists to identify all the communication suppliers operating within the counties audited, county officials were unable to determine whether all E911 surcharges were received from their suppliers. As a result, officials cannot be sure that their county received all the surcharges to which it was entitled.
Village of Milford – Board Oversight (Otsego County)
The clerk-treasurer performs all village financial transactions with little board oversight, including the billing and collection of water usage charges, the collection of real property taxes and the disbursement of village funds. Although the mayor dual-signs checks with the clerk-treasurer, no one reviews bank statements, canceled check images or monthly reports and reconciliations that the clerk-treasurer prepares. Furthermore, the board did not perform the required annual audit of the clerk-treasurer's records.
Village of Nassau – Budgeting (Rensselaer County)
While the adopted general fund budgets included reasonable revenue estimates, appropriations significantly exceeded expenditures. The variance between appropriations and expenditures has increased from 5.9 percent in 2014-15 to 30.9 percent in 2016-17. The board's budgeting practices resulted in an unrestricted fund balance increase of $97,547 (25.7 percent) over the three-year period.
Town of Pendleton – Special Districts (Niagara County)
The town has three sewer districts but the supervisor recorded and reported all sewer operation revenues and expenditures as one special district. In addition, the board does not adopt individual budgets for each sewer district. Capital costs are allocated to three sewer districts, but operating and maintenance costs are combined under one district
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