Audit Objective
Did the Town of Rose (Town) Supervisors (Supervisor) maintain complete, accurate and up-to-date accounting records and reports?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – April 21, 2026
We extended the audit period to review the Town’s 2023, through 2025 Annual Financial Report (AFR) filings as of April 21, 2026.
Understanding the Audit Area
Complete, accurate and up-to-date accounting records and reports provide the foundation for sound financial management by helping ensure that all financial activity is properly recorded, assets are safeguarded and financial information is available to support informed decision-making. Accurate accounting records and timely financial reports enable a town board to effectively monitor a town’s financial condition, evaluate budget-to-actual results, and identify financial trends. They also promote transparency and accountability by providing officials, taxpayers and other stakeholders with reliable information about how public resources are received, spent and managed.
The Town’s budgeted appropriations for fiscal year 2026 totaled $2.5 million.
Audit Summary
The Supervisors1 did not maintain complete, accurate and up-to-date accounting records and reports. Although the Supervisors assigned their duties for maintaining their accounting records and preparing disbursements and financial reports to the appointed Clerk to the Supervisor (bookkeeper), the Supervisors did not provide adequate oversight of these duties. As a result, the Town Board (Board) lacked reliable financial information to effectively manage the Town’s financial condition and operations, increasing the risk that errors, irregularities and misuse of Town resources could occur and remain undetected.
The bookkeeper maintained the Town’s accounting records and prepared financial reports. The former Supervisor did not adequately review and approve journal entries and online bank transfers, ensure monthly bank reconciliations were prepared and reviewed, verify the accuracy of monthly financial reports provided to the Board or adequately certify payroll before payment.
As a result, significant deficiencies existed in the Town’s accounting records and reports. From January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025, $4.9 million in revenues and $4 million in disbursements were not recorded in the computerized accounting software because only January 2024 and January 2025 activity was entered. Although the bookkeeper prepared monthly reports using a spreadsheet, the reports were inaccurate and overstated receipts by $14,095 and disbursements by $212,431 from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2025. In addition, the reports did not include budget-to-actual information and monthly bank reconciliations were not prepared for the former Supervisor’s review. As a result, these deficiencies and inaccuracies went undetected and uncorrected.
The Supervisors also did not ensure the AFRs were filed with the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC), as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30.2 While the former Supervisor filed the 2023 AFR in October 2025, 580 days after the statutory deadline, the Town’s 2024 and 2025 AFRs remained unfiled as of April 21, 2026.
Upon taking office on January 1, 2026, the current Supervisor retained the same bookkeeper and accounting processes. As of April 21, 2026, the Town’s accounting records remained incomplete and not up to date.
Furthermore, while the Supervisors reviewed time cards, they did not perform an adequate payroll certification, such as reviewing the bi-weekly payroll records prepared by the bookkeeper and processed by a third-party vendor and verifying salaries and rates of pay for all employees paid. As a result, 18 employees were inaccurately paid a total of $611.
The report includes six recommendations that, if implemented, will help ensure the Town’s accounting records and reports are complete, accurate and timely, improve financial oversight, accountability, transparency, and reduce the risk of errors and irregularities. Town officials generally agreed with our findings, and their response is included in Appendix B. Our comment on the Town’s response is included in Appendix C.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and OSC’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (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.
1 The former Supervisor’s term ended on December 31, 2025, and the current Supervisor’s term started on January 1, 2026.
2 OSC’s website provides more information on AFR nonfilers and the Town’s current AFR filing status at: https://web.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/afr-non-filers/.