New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the following local government and school audits were issued.

East Hampton Union Free School District – Network and Financial Application Access and Information Technology (IT) Contingency Planning (Suffolk County)

School district officials secured user account access to the financial application but did not secure user account access to the network or develop an IT contingency plan. This increases the risk of unauthorized access, lost data, and inability to recover from a network disruption. In addition, the district’s use of two central network management tools for over 10 years has created security concerns due to lack of monitoring of all accounts on both tools. Also, auditors found 91% of the district’s enabled network user accounts were not logged into in the last six months. Accounts grant access to sensitive information, and unneeded accounts should be disabled to protect data. Lastly, officials also did not provide IT security awareness training to district IT users.

Dutchess Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) – Electricity Contract Monitoring and Billing (Dutchess County)

BOCES officials did not monitor electricity rates to ensure they were at the lowest possible cost or ensure that invoices for electricity usage were accurate. Had officials monitored the electricity rates and ensured the utility bills were accurate, officials may have reduced BOCES electricity supply expenses by almost 50%, or approximately $172,000, during the 28-month audit period.

Town of Venice – Supervisor’s Financial Records and Reports (Cayuga County)

The supervisor’s accounting records were not complete, accurate or up to date. Of the 39 cash receipts totaling $6.1 million, and 36 cash disbursements totaling $124,391 reviewed: 20 cash receipts totaling $3.1 million either did not match bank deposits or lacked adequate support documentation, 25 cash receipts totaling $4.8 million were not recorded on time in the supervisor’s accounting records, 11 disbursements totaling $39,038 were not recorded in the accounting records, and eight disbursements totaling $33,021 lacked adequate support documentation and were not board approved. Furthermore, bank reconciliations for 15 of the 36 months reviewed were not performed, and the town’s 2020 required annual update document (AUD) was filed 310 days late. The 2021 and 2022 AUDs were not filed. The supervisor also did not present financial records and reports to the board for audit, as required.

Onondaga County – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (S9-23-8)

SHP training was provided to employees and elected officials. However, of the 250 total individuals tested (227 selected employees and all 23 elected officials), 14 employees, or 6%, of employees tested did not complete the annual SHP training.

Town of Southold – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Suffolk County)

SHP training was provided to employees and elected officials. However, of the 45 total individuals tested (26 selected employees and all 19 elected officials), six employees and 10 elected officials did not complete the annual SHP training. Additionally, of the 423 total town employees and elected officials tested, 10 justice court employees, 38 police department employees and the town historian were excluded from the SHP training.

Town of New Hartford – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Oneida County)

SHP training was provided to employees and elected officials. However, of the 20 total individuals tested (11 selected employees and all nine elected officials), three employees and six elected officials did not complete the annual SHP training. Additionally, the town excluded new hires at the highway department who started after April’s scheduled session from SHP training.

Village of Lynbrook – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Nassau County)

SHP training was provided to employees and elected officials. However, of the 35 total individuals tested (28 selected employees and all seven elected officials), six employees (21%) did not complete the annual SHP training.