New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced his office completed audits of Town of Chazy, Village of Freeville, Village of Silver Creek, Town of Windsor and the City of Yonkers.

"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."

Town of Chazy – Water and Sewer District Financial Operations (Clinton County)

The town lacks effective procedures to ensure water and sewer charges are accurately billed, collected and enforced. Customers were not billed in accordance with the board-established rates, resulting in customers being underbilled by $1,703. Delinquent customer accounts also did not always include late payment penalties. Town officials should establish comprehensive policies and procedures to provide adequate guidance for water and sewer billing and collection.

Village of Freeville – Time Attendance and Leave Accruals (Tompkins County)

The current employee handbook is deficient regarding the accrual of vacation time and could make the village liable for large payouts for unused vacation time. The board did not ensure that village officials and employees consistently followed established procedures outlined in the employee handbook. Village officials should update the employee handbook to include guidance on timekeeping procedures and the accrual and use of vacation and sick time.

Village of Silver Creek – Capital Projects (Chautauqua County)

The board did not adequately manage the finances for the sewer or water capital projects or develop a long-term plan that evaluated each project's financial impact on the annual operating budget. The sewer fund did not have sufficient cash to pay $296,000 of new debt service costs. In addition, the board did not approve water capital project change orders, which resulted in the project's budget being overspent by $179,000. As a result, there will be limited cash for water operations and unrestricted fund balance in the water fund will be significantly reduced.

Town of Windsor – Information Technology (Broome County)

The town's IT policy on acceptable use has not been updated since 2007 and does not address data backup, disaster recovery, breach notifications or security awareness training. Furthermore, the town's server is not located in a secure location, so there is an increased risk that computerized data could be lost or compromised.

City of Yonkers – Budget Review (Westchester County)

The Yonkers Public School District's 2017-18 budget request is $589.4 million for appropriations; however, the city's executive budget contains revenues for the district of $572.9 million, resulting in a shortage of approximately $16.5 million. The city continues to rely on nonrecurring revenue, such as fund balance, to balance its budget. City officials should reassess certain revenue estimates, including: mortgage tax, income surcharge tax, parking violation fines and fees, sales tax, other fees and fines, and meter water sales.

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.