Audit Objective
Did the Village of St. Johnsville (Village) former Clerk-Treasurer and current Treasurer maintain complete, accurate and timely accounting records and reports?
Audit Period
June 1, 2024 – February 28, 2026
Understanding the Audit Area
Complete, accurate and timely accounting records and reports are essential for a village board of trustees (board) to effectively oversee financial operations, monitor a village’s financial condition, make informed decisions and safeguard public resources. They also help ensure compliance with statutory reporting requirements, promote accountability, transparency and public trust over the use of taxpayer funds.
The Village’s accounting records included three operating funds during the audit period: general, water and sewer. The Village’s budgeted appropriations for the 2025-26 fiscal year totaled $2 million for the general fund, $432,000 for the sewer fund and $235,000 for the water fund.
Audit Summary
Neither the former Clerk-Treasurer nor the current Treasurer1 maintained complete, accurate and timely accounting records or provided the Board with reliable monthly financial reports. As a result, the Board’s ability to properly and effectively monitor and manage the Village’s financial operations was limited and transparency was diminished as Village residents and other interested parties were not informed of the Village’s financial condition. Specifically:
- The accounting records for all funds were maintained in one general ledger. Therefore, the reports generated from the accounting records did not provide the Board and officials with information needed to separately monitor each fund’s financial operations, compare actual results with the adopted budget or assess whether each fund was financially sound.
- The former Clerk-Treasurer did not properly prepare bank reconciliations for all bank accounts and bank reconciliations were not reviewed by the Board or other designee. The combined recorded general ledger cash balance for all cash accounts exceeded the combined adjusted bank balance by $110,545 as of June 30, 2024.
In addition, the Board did not annually audit, or contract with an independent public accountant to audit, the Treasurer’s records for at least 10 years as required by New York State Village Law (Village Law) Section 4-408. Had the Board periodically monitored the Village’s finances and performed the required annual audit, it may have detected and corrected the deficiencies identified during this audit in a timely manner.
The report includes nine recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Village’s recording and reporting of financial transactions so the Board can effectively monitor and manage the Village’s financial operations and improve transparency to taxpayers. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated, or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.
1 The former Clerk-Treasurer was placed on administrative leave in February 2025 and was not reappointed in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Board split the Clerk-Treasurer’s position to a part-time Treasurer position and a part-time Clerk position in April 2025. The Treasurer was appointed in May 2025.