Audit Objective
Did the Village of Coxsackie (Village) Treasurer (Treasurer) maintain and provide the Village Board (Board) with complete, accurate and timely records and reports?
Audit Period
June 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024.
We extended the audit period back to May 31, 2019, and forward to January 16, 2025, to comment on late-filed Annual Financial Reports (AFR)1, and forward to February 26, 2025, to comment on late Treasurer’s Reports.
Understanding the Audit Area
A treasurer should record and report financial transactions in a complete, accurate and timely manner to enable informed decision-making by the Board, prevent fraud or misappropriation of funds, comply with reporting requirements and maintain public trust. Accurate and timely records are essential for establishing financial accountability and proper financial management, oversight by the Board and taxpayers, and the protection of public funds.
The Village has three operating funds: general, water and sewer. The 2025 fiscal year end May 31, 2025 general fund appropriations totaled $2.1 million, water fund appropriations totaled $1.6 million and sewer fund appropriations totaled $1.3 million.
Audit Summary
The Treasurers2 did not maintain complete, accurate and timely records and reports or adhere to generally accepted accounting principles. We identified transactions totaling $420,215 that were not recorded, $236,921 that were incorrectly recorded and $91,741 that were recorded twice in the accounting records. As a result, the Board’s ability to properly and effectively monitor and manage the Village’s financial operations was reduced.
Specifically, the Treasurers did not:
- Properly maintain accurate accounting records by accruing assets and liabilities at fiscal year ends and complete bank reconciliations for 21 of the Village’s 25 bank accounts. Furthermore, they did not provide prepared bank reconciliations to the Board for its review.
- Provide the Board with a monthly budget-to-actual comparison of revenues and appropriations or balance sheet. Additionally, the Treasurers’ prepared the monthly cash receipt and disbursement report more than 60 days after month end for six of the 18 months we tested.
- Prepare and file the 2019 through 2024 fiscal year AFRs in accordance with General Municipal Law (GML).
Additionally, the Board did not annually audit the Treasurers’ records to ensure they were accurate, complete and maintained in a timely manner. As a result, the Board did not adequately and effectively monitor and manage the Village’s financial operations and Village residents, the New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and other interested parties were less informed of the Village’s financial position.
The report includes 10 recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Village Treasurer’s records and reports. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and their response is included in Appendix B. Appendix C includes our comments on issues raised in the Village’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 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 Clerk’s office.
1 The AFR is an annual report of a village’s financial position and results of operations.
2 The Village had three separate Treasurers during the audit period. The initial Treasurer was appointed before the audit period and left office in April 2023, the former Treasurer was appointed on April 18, 2023, and left office in December 2024. The current Treasurer was appointed on December 9, 2024.