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

Eastchester Union Free School District – User Accounts and Information Technology (IT) Contingency Planning (Westchester County)

District officials did not establish adequate controls over user accounts to help prevent unauthorized use, access and loss nor did they establish an adequate IT contingency plan. Auditors identified 181 accounts for students no longer in the district, six accounts for two former employees, two former board members and two former interns.

Village of Hewlett Neck – Treasurer’s Duties (Nassau County)

The treasurer did not perform his duties in accordance with statutes. Instead, the village clerk performed many of the treasurer’s duties, creating a lack of segregation of duties. Neither the board, nor the treasurer, provided oversight to compensate for these incompatible duties. As a result, 61 of 254 collections reviewed, totaling $86,937, were not deposited within 10 days as required by village law. The treasurer did not sign 69 of 179 checks reviewed, totaling $101,937; instead, checks were signed by the mayor, clerk and board members, despite there being no authority in village law for them to sign checks. In addition, the board did not correct significant internal control deficiencies identified by the accounting firm retained for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years.

Town of Nichols – Town Supervisor’s Records and Reports (Tioga County)

The former supervisor did not maintain timely, complete and accurate accounting records to allow the board and department heads to monitor finances and prepare adequate budgets. Collections and disbursements totaling more than $6.4 million were not recorded, and bank reconciliations were not completed. Monthly financial reports were not provided to the board or department heads during 2020 or 2021. Adopted budgets were not balanced and taxpayers were not treated equitably because the board consistently levied the majority of property taxes in the town-wide funds, where additional funding was not needed due to the casino revenues and did not levy the necessary property taxes in the town-outside-village funds. The town paid additional costs of $51,400 to have the accounting records created, the annual financial report for 2020 and 2021 filed and the 2023 budget prepared by an accounting firm.

Oceanside Union Free School District – Monitoring Internet Use (Nassau County)

District officials did not monitor employee compliance with the acceptable Internet use policy (AUP) on the district’s network. Six of 40 employees used district computers to access websites, such as shopping, entertainment, personal email, online gaming and social networking, in violation of the district’s AUP. Internet browsing increases the likelihood that users will be exposed to malicious software that may compromise data confidentiality, integrity or availability.

Sweet Home Central School District – Financial Management (Erie County)

District officials did not properly manage fund balance. They improperly encumbered funds and improperly restricted surplus funds in a debt reserve. As a result, district officials maintained real property taxes at a level higher than necessary to fund operations. Recalculated surplus fund balance exceeded the statutory limit by $7.2 million. The board unnecessarily appropriated $2.4 million of fund balance each year and real property taxes were increased by $4.5 million, or 9.7%, during the audit period. In addition, appropriations were overestimated by $13.4 million and sales tax revenue was underestimated by $3.4 million from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Lastly, at least $1.7 million was improperly encumbered which reduced the district’s surplus fund balance.

Town of Tioga – Long-Term Planning (Tioga County)

Town officials did not establish long-term capital and financial plans, which provide a framework to assess the town’s capital and financial needs and identify appropriate funding and financing approaches to address them. As a result, half of the town’s vehicles and pieces of major highway equipment are beyond their usable life by an average of nearly 15 years, including two pieces of equipment that required repairs or alterations which may impact employee safety. The New York State Department of Transportation rated a town-owned bridge in poor condition in 2019. While officials have set aside $51,539 for bridge repairs, the highway superintendent estimates the lowest cost to repair the bridge to good condition is $200,000 and replacing the bridge could cost $1.4 million.

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