On May 29, 2024
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following local
government audits were issued.

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highlighted in color
to access both the summary and the complete audit report


Eaton
No. 1 Fire District – Board Oversight (Madison County)  District officials did not adequately monitor financial
activities or keep appropriate records and reports. The board did not ensure
basic accounting records were maintained or that it received written financial
reports to manage operations or ensure bank reconciliations were performed. In
addition, the board did not ensure that the district’s required annual
financial reports were filed in a timely manner or conduct an annual audit of
the secretary-treasurer’s accounting records for 2020 through 2022. The board
also did not properly audit claims prior to payment. Of the 108 claims totaling
$209,006 that auditors reviewed, 55 claims totaling $116,864 (56%) had one or
more exceptions.


Neptune
Hose Company No. 1 of Dryden, Inc. – Disbursements (Tompkins County)  Company disbursements were not always supported or
authorized prior to payment. Auditors reviewed 171 disbursements totaling
$381,186 and determined that 34, totaling $30,126, were not processed in
accordance with the company’s accounting manual. These disbursements had one or
more issues, such as improperly authorized purchase orders or were unsupported.
Twenty-three disbursements totaling $24,875 were improperly authorized, ten
disbursements totaling $18,974 were approved after payment was made, six
disbursements totaling $4,530 lacked a payment authorization date and seven
disbursements totaling $1,371 were not adequately supported. In addition,
sixteen disbursements totaling $6,564 lacked adequate support such as itemized
receipts or invoices. Lastly, five company members received unsupported mileage
reimbursements totaling $2,573. Because disbursements were not always
authorized or supported, officials approved payments without having sufficient
documentation.


City
of Amsterdam – Budget Review (Montgomery County)   Based on the results of the review, the significant revenue
and expenditure projections in the city’s 2024-25 proposed budget are
reasonable. However, there were certain revenue and expenditure projections and
other matters that should be reviewed by the mayor and council. In addition,
city officials did not implement all of the recommendations in a previous
review letter when preparing the 2024-25 proposed budget. The mayor submitted
the 2024-25 proposed budget to the council on April 22, 2024, or 21 days after the charter-established
deadline. The proposed budgets for the general and recreation funds are not
structurally balanced because both budgets include subsidies from other funds
to finance their operations. City officials should also continue to evaluate
and explore ways to make the recreation fund self-sufficient.

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