Issued Date
November 19, 2021
Audit Objective
Determine whether the Town of Wellsville (Town) Board (Board) adopted structurally balanced budgets.
Key Findings
The Board adopted structurally balanced budgets. However, it could improve budgeting practices and be more transparent with how it budgets for the general and highway funds.
- The Board gave taxpayers the impression that real property taxes were levied to finance general Town operations when these taxes were intended to fund highway operations.
- During our audit period, from 2018 through 2021, the Board levied additional real property taxes in each general fund (town-wide and town-outside-village) and made transfers totaling $869,428 to each applicable highway fund.
Key Recommendation
- Adopt budgets that more appropriately levy real property taxes for each general and highway fund.
Town officials generally agreed with our findings and recommendations and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.