New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following local government audits has been issued.

Village of Fort Plain – Leave Benefits (Montgomery County)

Village officials did not establish appropriate controls over employee leave time. Auditors found the board did not establish comprehensive leave benefit policies and procedures. Officials also did not accurately maintain employee leave records. Leave used and compensatory time (comp time) earned was not always properly recorded or supported by village records. As a result, 133 hours of accrued comp time, valued at approximately $4,600, was not supported by an employee’s time and attendance records. In addition, 33 hours of comp time and eight hours of personal time, valued at approximately $900, were used but not deducted from employee leave records.

Town of Locke – Financial Condition (Cayuga County)

The board did not effectively manage the town’s financial condition. As a result, it levied more taxes than necessary to sustain operations. The board also did not adopt budgets with sound estimates, nor did it monitor budgetary results during the year. In addition, unrestricted fund balances as of December 31, 2019 in the general and highway funds and water district were excessive, ranging from 89 percent to 536 percent of actual expenditures. The board did not adopt formal fund balance, reserve and budgeting policies, along with multiyear financial and capital plans.

City of Newburgh – Budget Review (Orange County)

The city’s proposed budget includes appropriations of $67,066,159. The city’s use of approximately $4.6 million of fund balance to close gaps in the budget decreases the fund balance that is available to cover unforeseen circumstances. The city could potentially face shortfalls based on revenue estimates for sales and use tax.

Town of Palermo – Procurement and Fuel Inventory (Oswego County)

Town officials did not always use competitive methods when procuring goods and services or properly account for and monitor diesel and gasoline fuel. Town officials purchased $299,298 in goods and services that should have been competitively procured, however, $101,121 was purchased without competition. Town officials also overpaid a vendor by almost $2,500.

Rockland County – Budget Review

The significant revenue and expenditure projections in the proposed budget are reasonable. The review considered county officials’ projections in response to the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The county’s proposed budget includes a tax levy of $146,052,165.

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