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Audit Objective

Determine whether Village officials implemented adequate internal controls to safeguard money in the custody of the Clerk-Treasurer’s office.

Key Findings

• The Board was unable to sufficiently oversee the Clerk-Treasurer’s duties.
• The Clerk-Treasurer failed to provide the Board with accurate budget-to-actual reports and complete financial reports each month. Further, the value of these reports was greatly diminished because accounting records were unreliable and bank reconciliations were inaccurate and not prepared for all accounts.
• Because of ineffective recordkeeping, the certified public accounting firm (firm) was unable to complete its audits for the last two years. The Board hired another certified public accountant (CPA) who was paid $30,000 to correct the records.
• The Clerk-Treasurer did not adequately segregate the deputies’ duties or provide sufficient oversight of their work. As a result, many of their duties were performed without Board approval or the Clerk-Treasurer’s knowledge or oversight.

Key Recommendations

• Continue efforts to sufficiently oversee the Clerk- Treasurer’s duties and work with CPAs to improve financial records and reports.
• Ensure that financial records and reports are timely and accurate.
• Segregate the deputies’ duties or implement compensating controls.

Village officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.