Village of Herkimer - Water and Sewer Financial Operations (2019M-102)

Issued Date
August 16, 2019

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether Village officials effectively managed the billing, collection and enforcement of water and sewer charges.

Key Findings

  • Key duties over water and sewer operations such as billing, collecting, entry of payments and adjustments were inadequately segregated and lacked effective oversight procedures.
  • Water and sewer receivable control accounts were not reconciled to unpaid customer account balances.
  • The Board did not review the water and sewer re-levy list and the list of unpaid customer accounts.

Key Recommendations

  • Adequately segregate duties or implement effective mitigating controls over water and sewer financial operations.
  • Reconcile the water and sewer receivable control account to unpaid customer balances on a monthly basis.
  • Review the water and sewer accounts re-levy list and compare it to the complete list of unpaid customer accounts prior to approval.

Village officials generally agreed with our findings and indicated they had already taken or planned to take corrective action.

Appendix B includes our comment on an issue raised in the Village’s response letter.