Audit Objective
Did Town of Cohocton (Town) officials make purchases in accordance with Town policy, statutory requirements and good business practices?
Audit Period
January 1, 2023 – January 31, 2025
Understanding the Program
Generally, municipal purchases should be made in the best interest of the taxpayers. One of the best methods for helping ensure that goods and services are acquired in a cost-effective manner is to seek competition that is often required by New York State law or by locally adopted policy. One of the goals of seeking competition is to foster honest competition to obtain quality commodities and services at the lowest possible cost. Seeking competition also guards against favoritism, extravagance and fraud, while allowing interested vendors a fair and equal opportunity to compete. Whether using formal competitive bids, requests for proposals (RFPs) or written and verbal quotes, a well-planned solicitation effort is needed to reach as many qualified vendors as possible.
The Town purchased approximately $3.7 million in goods and services during the period of January 1, 2023, through August 6, 2024.
Audit Summary
Town officials did not always solicit competition in accordance with the Town’s procurement policy, statutory requirements or good business practices and stated it was an inconvenience for them to adhere to the Town’s procurement policy. Officials’ general disregard for the Town’s procurement policy resulted in procurement's that were not in the most prudent and economical manner. For example, of the $3.7 million in goods and services purchased between January 1, 2023 and August 6, 2024, almost $2 million was procured without competition. The audit identified instances where officials and employees responsible for purchasing did not:
- Solicit competitive bids for purchases of goods totaling approximately $1.3 million from 10 vendors, for which we identified potential cost savings of $23,000 for vehicle and energy purchases.
- Issue RFPs or use any other form of competitive process before procuring professional services from 15 providers totaling approximately $540,000.
- Obtain the minimum number of quotes required by the Town’s procurement policy for purchases totaling approximately $131,000.
- Obtain the minimum number of required quotes for credit card purchases totaling approximately $21,000.
When officials and employees do not solicit competition as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) and Town policies, there is an increased risk that goods and services are not obtained at a favorable cost, free from favoritism or for appropriate purchases. For example, had they solicited competition, officials may have saved the Town approximately $23,000 on purchases of goods and services that totaled approximately $225,000. Additionally, because the Town’s procurement
policy did not include details on when the Town Board’s (Board’s) approval is required prior to making purchases, the Board’s ability to ensure compliance with its policy was limited.
The report includes six recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Town’s procurement function. Appendix C includes our comments on issues raised in the Town’s response.
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 GML. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix D.
The 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 GML. 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 Town Clerk’s office.