[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of German (Town) Town Supervisor (Supervisor) maintained complete, accurate and up-to-date accounting records and reports.

Key Findings

The former Supervisor did not maintain the Town’s accounting records and reports in a complete, accurate and up-to-date manner. As a result, the Town Board’s (Board) ability to monitor the Town’s financial operations was compromised, resulting in diminished transparency of the Town’s financial operations. The former Supervisor:

• Incorrectly recorded almost $1 million of highway fund revenues and $57,000 of fire protection fund revenues in the general fund for the 2020 through 2022 fiscal years.
• Did not provide budget status reports, or a monthly accounting of all money received and disbursed, to the Board.
• Consistently filed the annual financial report (AFR) and the tax cap form late with the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC).
• Did not annually provide accounting records to the Board, in addition, the Board did not audit the former Supervisor’s records.

Key Recommendations

• Maintain accurate and complete accounting records.
• Provide reliable monthly financial reports to the Board.
• File AFRs and tax cap forms as required.
• Annually audit the Supervisor’s records.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action.