Audit Objective
Did Village of Churchville (Village) officials seek competition for the procurement of goods and services?
Audit Period
March 1, 2023 – October 30, 2025
Understanding the Audit Area
Municipal purchases should be made in the best interest of taxpayers. One method for ensuring that goods and services are acquired in a cost-effective manner is to create as much competition as possible. One of the goals of seeking competition is to foster honest competition to obtain quality goods and services at the lowest possible cost. For example, using formal competitive bids, obtaining written and verbal quotes or using other competitive methods, such as a request for proposals (RFPs) process, can help ensure that a village obtains needed goods and qualified professional services with the most favorable terms and conditions, and in the best interests of taxpayers. Seeking competition also guards against favoritism, extravagance, fraud, and corruption while allowing interested vendors a fair and equal opportunity to compete.
The Village purchased approximately $7.6 million in goods and services during March 1, 2023 through May 28, 2025
Audit Summary
Village officials did not always solicit competition according to statutory requirements set forth in New York State (NYS) General Municipal Law (GML) or the Village’s procurement policy. When Village officials do not solicit competition as required by GML and Village policies, there is an increased risk that goods and services are not obtained at a favorable cost, free from favoritism or for appropriate purchases.
Of the approximately $1.4 million in goods and services purchased between March 1, 2023 and May 28, 2025 that we reviewed, officials did not adequately seek competition for purchases totaling $664,748 (48 percent). The audit identified instances where Village officials responsible for purchasing did not:
- Ensure that two purchases made using the “piggybacking”1 exception totaling $416,861 for a digger truck and lawnmower adhered to the competitive bidding exception in GML Section 103(16).
- Issue RFPs or use any other form of competitive process before procuring professional services from nine providers paid $184,010.
- Ensure that the Village received the NYS Office of General Services (OGS) contract price in lieu of competitively bidding for purchasing a backhoe for $111,665.
- Obtain written quotes, as required by the Village’s procurement policy, or use any other form of competitive process for two purchases totaling $31,397. For example, Village officials did not obtain quotes for signs totaling $11,891.
- Obtain the minimum number of written quotes required by the Village’s procurement policy for one purchase for electric utility poles totaling $16,614.
Additionally, the Village Board (Board) did not ensure adequate segregation of duties over purchasing, because the Village’s procurement policy did not include details on when Board approval was required prior to making purchases. Also, the Clerk-Treasurer and Department of Public Works Superintendent (Superintendent) signed and approved their own purchase orders, limiting the Board’s ability to ensure compliance with procurement requirements.
The report includes five recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Village’s procurement of goods and services. Village officials agreed with our recommendations and their response is included in Appendix B.
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 C.
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 Village Clerk-Treasurer’s office.
1 The piggybacking exception allows a village to benefit from the competitive process already undertaken by other local governments (see Appendix A for further details).