Town of Canton - Compensation and Benefits (2018M-159)

Issued Date
January 10, 2020

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether compensation and benefits were paid in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or Board authorized amounts.

Key Findings

  • The Supervisor re-allocated and collected additional salaries for bookkeeping duties totaling $73,794 from April 2015 through August 2017 without Board authorization. In August 2017, he reimbursed the Town for these extra payments and the Town paid $58,858 to the Supervisor’s wife for services she provided during this period.
  • The Board did not authorize salaries paid to officers and employees totaling $145,671 or certain health insurance benefits provided by the Town.

Key Recommendations

  • Ensure the required elected officials are paid in accordance with the advertised salary in the public hearing notice for the preliminary budget and that any increases above the amounts advertised are pursuant to local law, subject to permissive referendum requirements.
  • Set the salary or hourly wage of all officers and employees.
  • Implement procedures to ensure that all salaries and benefits are provided to officers and employees in accordance with Board authorizations and the CBA.

Town officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in the Town’s response letter.