Selected Reports issued by the Office of the State Comptroller during the week ending November 7, 2015
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Guilty plea of the theft of $78,000 of NYSERS pension benefits
Guilty plea of the theft of $78,000 of NYSERS pension benefits
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the guilty plea of Terence Fitzpatrick, 53, of Monmouth County, New Jersey, to the crime of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class D felony, in Albany County Court. Fitzpatrick faces a maximum penalty of 2 and 1/3 to 7 years in prison.
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/nov15/110515a.htm?utm_source=weeklynews20151108&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110515arelease
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli”s office completed the following audits of political subdivisions of the State:
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli”s office completed the following audits of political subdivisions of the State:
Village of Clayville – Board Oversight
The clerk-treasurer did not provide the board with comprehensive financial reports so that it could properly oversee the village’s financial activities. In addition, the board did not ensure that the clerk-treasurer filed the village’s annual financial reports in a timely manner.
Cortland Housing Authority – Financial Condition
Housing authority officials have worked effectively to maintain a strong financial position by controlling expenditures.
Essex Fire District #2 – Cash Disbursements
The board does not provide adequate oversight of the district’s cash disbursements. The treasurer did not prepare monthly bank reconciliations or reports, or prepare and file the district’s annual reports with the Office of State Comptroller for the past two years.
Lockport Public Library – Claims Processing
The board did not routinely audit and approve claims prior to payment. Instead, claims were audited and approved for payment by the director, who also signed the disbursement checks to pay the claims.
Port WashingtonFire Department – Budgeting
The board’s adopted budgets have not accurately portrayed expected department operating costs to the companies and the public. Furthermore, by relying on net assets to fund budget shortfalls, the department is not adopting structurally balanced budgets and is instead funding recurring expenditures with one-shot uses of accumulated net assets.
Roosevelt Fire District – Fire Station Project
Auditors reviewed the process used to construct a new fire station as well as construction-related expenditures and found that the expenditures were within the board-approved amount. However, the board did not enter into written agreements with four contractors that provided services during the project.
Town of Sidney – Budget Review
The significant revenue and expenditure projections in the preliminary budget are reasonable. The town took appropriate action to implement or resolve recommendations contained in the 2014 budget review report issued in November 2014. The town’s proposed budget complies with the property tax levy limit.
Stony Creek Volunteer Fire Company – Cash Disbursements
The board did not establish effective internal controls to address a lack of segregation in the treasurer’s cash disbursement duties. The board did not establish policies or implement any procedures governing debit card use or review or approve any card-related transactions.
Western Sullivan Public Library – Library Operations
The library’s fixed costs for operating its three buildings are high, and officials did not perform any comparative cost analysis of operations or segregate cost information by building.