New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of East Hampton Housing Authority, Eggertsville Fire District, Mastic Beach Fire District, Town of Moira, Town of Oxford and the Town of Somerset.

"In today's fiscal climate, budget transparency and accountability for our local communities is a top priority," said DiNapoli. "By auditing municipal finances and operations, my office continues to provide taxpayers the assurance that their money is being spent appropriately and effectively."

East Hampton Housing Authority – Board Oversight (Suffolk County)

The board and authority officials have not adopted policies and procedures to ensure that cash receipt, cash disbursement and bank reconciliation duties are segregated. As a result, the administrative assistant records and deposits cash receipts, disburses moneys and reconciles bank accounts. The board has not established compensating controls, such as reviewing monthly reports or reviewing the administrative assistant's work.

Eggertsville Fire District – Financial Activity (Erie County)

The board generally provides adequate oversight of district financial activities to ensure that financial activity is properly recorded and reported and that district money is safeguarded.

Mastic Beach Fire District – Cash Disbursements (Suffolk County)

The treasurer disbursed 84 checks totaling $394,037 prior to the board resolution authorizing payment. Although payments appeared to be for district purposes, when checks are routinely disbursed prior to or without board approval, there is a significant risk that payments could be made in error or for unauthorized purposes.

Town of Moira – Fiscal Oversight and Selected Financial Operations (Franklin County)

The current and former supervisors did not prepare monthly bank reconciliations, provide the board with complete and accurate monthly financial reports or file accurate or timely annual financial reports with the Office of the State Comptroller. Town officials made purchases without complying with competitive bidding requirements. In addition, town justices did not establish adequate controls over court collections.

Town of Oxford – Financial Management (Chenango County)

While the combined town-outside-village funds have sufficient fund balances to maintain operations, the board adopted budgets that relied on fund balance to fund recurring expenditures. As a result, the town had significant operating deficits and a deterioration in fiscal health and the transparency of the town's financial management was limited.

Town of Somerset – Budgeting for Sales Tax (Niagara County)

Although town officials consistently budgeted sales tax revenue in the town-outside-village general and highway funds and reduced the real property tax levy in those funds to zero, they improperly budgeted sales tax revenue in the refuse district. Town officials were unaware that sales tax revenue could not be budgeted in the refuse district.

For access to state and local government spending and 50,000 state contracts, visit OpenBookNY. The easy-to-use website was created by Comptroller DiNapoli to promote openness in government and provide taxpayers with better access to the financial workings of government.