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

Town of Canajoharie – Budgeting and Allocating Sales Tax Revenue (Montgomery County)

Town officials did not properly budget for and allocate sales tax revenue. As a result, taxpayers residing outside the villages did not receive all the benefit they should have from county sales tax distributions. The town board underestimated sales tax revenue in the town-outside-village (TOV) general, TOV highway and town-wide (TW) highway funds by an average of $83,477 (21 percent) for fiscal years 2018 through 2020.

Copiague Fire District – Cash Disbursements (Suffolk County)

The board did not audit district claims properly. Auditors found 18 claims totaling $33,446 were paid without an invoice attached to the claims, checks for 39 payments totaling $141,904 were deposited between one and 131 days before they were approved, and 306 checks, totaling almost $2 million, had only one of the two required signatures. Payments totaling $3,190 were approved even though they were not valid district expenditures.

Copiague Fire District – Credit Card Purchases (Suffolk County)

District officials did not comply with the credit card use policy. Of 1,172 credit card charges made during the audit period, 753 totaling $70,458 did not have receipts or invoices attached to the claims. Nineteen credit card purchases exceeded the travel meal allowance by $5,047. The board approved 28 charges totaling $5,786 for refreshments that were in violation of New York State Public Officers Law. The board also approved $1,488 in charges that were not for valid district purposes.

Town of Sanford – Claims Audit Process (Broome County)

While town officials ensured that goods and services were received for the claims reviewed, the town board did not ensure all claims were appropriately audited and approved. Out of 200 claims reviewed, the board did not audit 69 claims totaling $150,187 as required by New York State Town Law Section 118. Town officials may have saved $5,010 in fuel costs if they had used the State contract pricing option.

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