Audit Objective
Did the Village of Groton (Village) Board of Trustees (Board) competitively procure the goods and services for a capital project (Project) that included a municipal building and fire station?
Audit Period
November 30, 2017 – February 19, 2026
Understanding the Audit Area
A village board is responsible for ensuring that goods and services associated with a capital project are competitively procured in accordance with applicable laws and a village’s procurement policies. Seeking competition helps ensure a village obtains quality goods and services at the lowest possible cost, safeguards taxpayer resources and provides qualified vendors a fair and equal opportunity to compete. An open and competitive procurement process also promotes accountability and transparency and helps protect against favoritism, extravagance and fraud.
The Project included the construction of a combined building for the Village and the Groton Fire Department (Department),1 and Project costs totaled $4.1 million.
Audit Summary
The Board did not competitively procure certain goods and services for the Project. Although the Project’s original construction contracts, totaling $3.7 million, were properly procured, the Board subsequently procured $135,900 in goods and services without seeking competition in accordance with New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 103 or the Village’s procurement policy (Policy). As a result, the Board cannot ensure the Village obtained quality goods and services at the lowest possible cost. Seeking competition also guards against favoritism, extravagance and fraud while providing interested vendors a fair and equal opportunity to compete.
Specifically:
- Purchases totaling $99,100 were not competitively procured in accordance with GML.
- Purchases totaling $36,800 were not procured in compliance with the Policy.
This report includes three recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Village’s procurement practices and help ensure future capital project procurements are competitive and comply with applicable requirements. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated, or indicated they planned to initiate, corrective action.
This audit was conducted pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC’s) authority as set forth in Article 3 of GML. The audit’s 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 OSC within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of GML. For more information on preparing and filing the CAP, please refer to the OSC brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which was provided with the draft audit report. The Board is encouraged to make the CAP available for public review in the Clerk-Treasurer’s office.
1 The Department is a not-for-profit corporation, composed of volunteer members and governed by its own board, that provides fire protection and emergency services within the Village.