Audits of Local Governments

The Office of the New York State Comptroller’s Division of Local Government and School Accountability conducts performance audits of local governments and school districts. Performance audits provide findings or conclusions based on an evaluation of evidence against criteria. Local officials use audit findings to improve program performance and operations, reduce costs and contribute to public accountability.

For audits older than 2013, contact us at [email protected].

For audits of State and NYC agencies and public authorities, see Audits.

Topics
School District | General Oversight, Other

March 1, 2024 –

District officials did not properly bill tuition for nonresident foster care students enrolled at the District. As a result, as of September 30, 2023, officials had not billed or underbilled $40,803 of the $71,192 (57 percent) in tuition it was entitled to and billed and collected $12,452 in tuition it was not entitled to for the 2019-20 through 2021-22 school years.

School District | Employee Benefits

March 1, 2024 –

District officials did not always approve, support and monitor overtime. As a result, overtime expenditures exceeded budgeted overtime by $49,576 during the audit period and officials increased the risk that employees may have been paid for unnecessary overtime.

School District | Revenues

March 1, 2024 –

District officials did not claim State aid totaling $145,164 for nonresident homeless students during the audit period because the Superintendent was not aware that the District could claim this aid.

BOCES | Inventories

March 1, 2024 –

As of June 30, 2023, Questar BOCES had IT assets with an original cost of $28.5 million (44,305 items) accounted for in its inventory that were either purchased for a component school district or for use at Questar BOCES. Based on our review, Questar BOCES officials properly accounted for all 817 IT hardware assets reviewed with a purchase value of $612,386 and ensured assets declared surplus were properly disposed.

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials ensured the CPF collections we examined were properly supported, recorded and deposited in full and that disbursements were proper and supported. Town officials also ensured the debt service payments we reviewed were for legitimate CPF purposes and properly allocated.

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials from all five Towns ensured disbursements were proper and supported, and debt service payments were for legitimate CPF purposes and properly allocated. However, Town of Riverhead officials did not always record dates collections were received or deposit payments in a timely manner.

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials ensured disbursements were proper and supported. However, Town officials did not always follow the Town’s collections procedures and, as a result, did not always maintain complete collections records or deposit collections in a timely manner.

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials ensured the CPF collections we examined were properly supported, recorded and deposited in full and that disbursements were proper and supported.

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials ensured the CPF collections we examined were properly supported, recorded, and deposited in full and that disbursements were proper and supported.

Fire Company or Department | Cash Receipts, Claims Auditing, Records and Reports

February 23, 2024 –

Statewide Audit, Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts

February 23, 2024 –

Town officials ensured the CPF collections we examined were properly supported, recorded and deposited in full and that disbursements were proper and supported.

School District | Inventories

February 16, 2024 –

District officials did not adequately account for or monitor fuel usage. As a result, 690 gallons of diesel fuel valued at $2,064 (23 percent) were not properly accounted for during our 50-day test period.

Village | Financial Condition

February 16, 2024 –

The Board did not adopt realistic budgets or manage fund balance. As a result, more taxes were levied than needed to fund operations.

School District | Inventories

February 16, 2024 –

District officials did not always properly monitor and account for the capital assets that we tested, and did not conduct periodic physical inventories to help ensure the records were accurate and complete and the assets were on hand. The last physical inventory was completed in 2017 and officials only updated the District’s asset records on an annual basis thereafter. As a result, officials may be unable to identify lost or stolen items.

Village | Cash Receipts, Records and Reports

February 16, 2024 –

The Clerk-Treasurer accurately recorded collections. However, the collections were not always recorded and deposited in a timely manner and the Board of Trustees (Board) did not establish adequate controls for collections.

Village | Claims Auditing

February 9, 2024 –

The Board of Trustees (Board) did not ensure compliance with the Village's credit card policy.

Village | Employee Benefits

February 9, 2024 –

Village officials did not properly approve, document or control overtime for employees. During our audit period, the Village paid eight employees a total of $149,964 in overtime that was not properly approved or supported by the employees' timecards.

School District | Revenues

February 2, 2024 –

District officials did not properly claim State aid for special education students who received services in summer placements. As a result, as of June 30, 2023, the District had not claimed $55,771 in State aid to which it was entitled, of which $52,640 would have already been received and benefited the District if claimed in a timely manner. The District also claimed $8,569 in aid to which it was not entitled.

Town | Cash Disbursements, Cash Receipts, Internal Controls

January 26, 2024 –

he Justices and Board did not provide adequate oversight of Court financial activities. As a result, the former court clerk was able to misappropriate more than $59,000, or 38 percent of the fines, fees and surcharges collected between January 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021. In August 2023, the former court clerk pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree, corrupting the government in the second degree, tampering with records in the first degree and official misconduct. In October 2023, the former court clerk was sentenced to serve six months in jail and pay more than $59,000 in restitution.

Village | Other

January 22, 2024 –

The Village is located in Orange County. Chapter 206 of the Laws of 2023 (the “Village of Washingtonville Deficit Financing Act”) authorizes the Village, subject to the provisions of Local Finance Law (LFL) Section10.10, to issue debt not to exceed $4.5 million to liquidate the accumulated (actual) deficits in the general fund, water fund, sewer fund and capital projects fund as of May 31, 2023, including the remaining principal amount of any budget, deficiency and/or revenue anticipation notes outstanding at the time the deficit bonds or notes are issued. During the time that LFL Section 10.10 is in effect, the Village's tentative annual budgets must be submitted to the Office of the New York State Comptroller for examination and recommendations.