New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced on Apr. 8 that several local government and school audits have been issued.
The release of these audits is important as it highlights issues in financial oversight, recordkeeping, and compliance with state laws across multiple municipalities and school districts.
Auditors found that officials in some entities did not properly monitor fuel inventory, resulting in thousands of gallons unaccounted for and discrepancies in documentation. In one case, $7,603 worth of fuel was not accounted for due to inaccurate recording and lack of reconciliations. Additionally, auditors noted incomplete accounting records at the city level, where over 4,000 transactions totaling about $10 million were not recorded promptly. Bank reconciliations involving approximately $51 million were also delayed.
In another municipality, the supervisor delegated accounting duties to a bookkeeper without proper oversight. This led to significant errors such as nearly $350,000 in receipts and more than $740,000 in disbursements going unrecorded or unreported to the board. Payroll certification failures resulted in overpayments exceeding $2,600. The town’s annual financial reports have largely gone unfiled since 2017.
Department officials overseeing funds with multiple treasurers failed to maintain complete records or safeguard assets adequately. Several bank accounts lacked any accounting records while hundreds of transactions had no supporting documentation or approval.
In schools, an assistant superintendent’s lack of monitoring led to unnecessary service charges totaling around $28,800 for inactive MiFi devices. Boards often did not conduct required annual audits or provide reliable monthly financial reports needed for informed decision-making.
Follow-up reviews showed mixed progress on prior audit recommendations: one fire district fully implemented only one out of eleven suggestions regarding fiscal oversight training; a central school district partially addressed two out of four recommendations related to information technology controls but did not implement the others.
