On November 20, 2025, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following local government and school audits were issued.
Click the text highlighted in COLOR to access the audit posted on the Internet.
Town of Elmira Fire District No.1 – Long-Term Planning (Chemung County)
District officials did not establish or adopt up-to-date long-term capital and financial plans. The district had five vehicles at or beyond their useful life estimates in 2025. Auditors estimated that the total vehicle replacement cost of these five vehicles was approximately $2.3 million in 2025. However, the reserve fund balance totaled $971,000 as of Dec. 31, 2024. If all five vehicles at or beyond their useful life estimates were replaced in 2025, the district may face a shortfall of approximately $1.3 million.
Because district officials did not maintain a long-term capital plan for vehicles or plan for future financial operations, the board’s ability to effectively manage the district’s finances was hindered. Therefore, potential large increases to real property tax levies may occur when assets are needed in the future. As a result of the audit, the board created a new capital plan that projected reserve contributions, vehicle replacement costs and useful life through 2054.
Richburg-Wirt Fire District – Board Oversight (Allegany County)
The board did not provide adequate oversight of financial operations. Specifically, the board did not develop and adopt required policies, including an investment policy, a procurement policy and a code of ethics. It did not use reserve funds in a transparent manner and could not support that transfers totaling $36,611 were adopted through board resolutions and that public hearings were held, when required. The board also did not audit the treasurer’s records or ensure all of its members completed mandatory oversight training within the required time period.
In addition, the board did not use competitive bidding for the purchase of an off-road utility vehicle for approximately $28,000 as required, and may have paid more than necessary.
Town of Cherry Valley – Budget Review (Otsego County)
Auditors determined that the town’s preliminary budget significantly underbudgeted the appropriations for the Cherry Valley Community Health Center. Although all other significant revenues and appropriation estimates were considered reasonable and accurate, auditors identified long-term financial concerns regarding the lack of recurring revenues to fund recurring expenditures.
The 2026 preliminary budget includes an estimate for health center appropriations of $495,000 in the general fund. Auditors’ projection of health center expenditures for 2025 is approximately $1 million.
The board’s unrealistically low estimate for health center expenditures enabled the board to lower the town’s tax levy in the preliminary budget. However, without a source of additional revenues for the health center, the board could nearly deplete the town’s general fund resources by the end of 2026.
West Irondequoit Central School District – Emergency Drills (Monroe County)
During the school year, district officials must conduct a minimum of 12 evacuation and lockdown drills for each building and three bus drills for each bus to provide staff and students with the training necessary to respond appropriately in an emergency.
District officials did not conduct all required bus drills and did not ensure all students participated in bus drills. Officials also did not file the required annual certification for bus drills or properly notify parents of drills as required in 2024-25. Without adequate emergency instruction and training, district officials cannot ensure that staff and students are prepared for emergencies.
Additionally, without properly notifying parents in advance of building drills, parents may not have sufficient information to ask questions about procedures or be prepared to discuss the drills with their children.
Newark Valley Fire District – Audit Follow-Up (Tioga County)
The review assessed the district’s progress in implementing the recommendations in the audit report, Newark Valley Fire District – Board Oversight (2020M-30). The audit determined that district officials, needed to improve controls over hall rentals, did not adopt an investment policy and update the procurement policy, retain documentation of quotes in compliance with the procurement policy, provide for an annual audit of the treasurer’s records and ensure that the treasurer filed its required annual financial information within 60 days of the close of the fiscal year.
The audit included five recommendations to help officials monitor and improve the district’s financial operations. Of those, two recommendations were implemented, one recommendation was partially implemented, and two recommendations were not implemented.
Hunter-Tannersville Central School District – Audit Follow-Up (Greene County)
The review examined the district’s progress in implementing recommendations in the audit report, Hunter-Tannersville Central School District – Network User Accounts and Information Technology Contingency Planning (2022M-125). The audit determined that district officials did not adequately manage or monitor nonstudent network user accounts or develop a written IT contingency plan.
To help officials improve their controls over nonstudent network user accounts and be prepared for system disruptions, the audit included a public report that contained five recommendations and confidentially conveyed sensitive IT control weaknesses and recommendations. The district fully implemented all five recommendations contained in the public audit report, auditors determined.
Auditors also reviewed progress in implementing the recommendations related to the sensitive IT control weaknesses, and communicated those results confidentially to district officials.
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