Audit Objective
Did the Town of Hanover (Town) Town Board (Board) use a competitive process when procuring professional services?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – April 1, 2025
Understanding the Audit Area
Professional services generally require specialized skills, training and expertise; the use of professional judgment and/or a high degree of creativity. For example, professional services can include legal, medical, architectural, accounting and auditing services. New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 104-b requires the Board to adopt written policies and procedures for procuring goods and services that are not subject to competitive bidding, such as professional services. The Board last updated the Town’s procurement policy in 2021.
From January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024, the Board approved 286 payments to 67 professional service providers totaling approximately $364,000.
Audit Summary
The Board did not always seek competition when procuring professional services. Of the 67 professional service providers that were paid approximately $364,000 in 2024, we determined that the Board did not seek competition prior to selecting 54 professional service providers that were paid approximately $274,000 for various services including legal, engineering, bookkeeping, auditing and water testing services. As a result, Board members may not have known about other professional service providers who could offer similar services at a more favorable rate. This was due in part because the Board adopted a procurement policy which lacked guidance on soliciting competition for professional services prior to selecting professional service providers.
Consequently, there was little assurance that the Board selected professional service providers prudently and economically, in the best interests of taxpayers and without influence from favoritism, extravagance, fraud or corruption. Had the Board used a competitive process when procuring professional services, it might have achieved cost savings as demonstrated in this audit report.
The report includes three recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Town’s procurement of professional services. Town officials disagreed with certain aspects of our findings, but indicated that they planned to initiate corrective action, and their response is included in Appendix B. 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 Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC) authority as set forth in Article 3 of 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 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.