Audit Objective
Did the Oneida County (County) Clerk (Clerk) properly collect and deposit funds, and remit funds in an accurate and timely manner?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – July 29, 2025
We extended our audit period to review certain Clerk collections back to 2007 and certain Clerk remittances back to 2023.
Understanding the Audit Area
A county clerk must collect, deposit, and remit funds accurately and in a timely manner to prevent theft or loss and ensure government operations are adequately funded. Timely and accurate handling of funds is a key part of internal controls that safeguards public money, establishes accountability and maintains fiscal integrity. The County Administrative Code (Administrative Code) requires the Clerk to submit remittances to the County Commissioner of Finance (Commissioner) within five days following the close of each month.
During the period January 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025, the Clerk collected fees totaling approximately $21.7 million.
Audit Summary
Although the Clerk’s staff collected and deposited funds in a timely manner, the Clerk did not always remit funds to the Commissioner in a timely or accurate manner. We determined remittances to the Commissioner for non-mortgage fees totaling approximately $2.7 million averaged 69 days late from January 2024 through March 2025. The Clerk’s delays in remitting funds to the Commissioner limited the County’s ability to access and use funds in a timely manner. In addition, when funds are held by the Clerk for longer than required, there is increased risk that theft or loss, errors or misappropriation could occur and go undetected.
We also determined that the Clerk did not ensure monthly accountability analyses were prepared to reconcile liabilities against available cash throughout the audit period. Had the Clerk done so, the Clerk may have identified the following errors in recording and remitting funds soon after they occurred:
- 2,387 federal tax lien filing fees totaling over $95,000 (dating back to 2007) were not remitted to the Commissioner.
- Approximately $94,000 in revenues generated from website subscriptions were overpaid to the Commissioner.
- As of March 31, 2025, cash exceeded known liabilities by $108,138.1
The report includes six recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Clerk’s financial operations. County officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action. County officials’ responses are included in Appendix B.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The County Board of Legislators (Board) has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report should be prepared and provided to our office within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of the New York State General Municipal Law. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer to our brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. We encourage the Board to make the CAP available for public review in the Clerk’s office.
1 Based on an accountability analysis we conducted. See Finding 2.