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

Fillmore Central School District – Credit Cards and Purchase Cards (Allegany County)

Although the 230 charges reviewed by auditors totaling approximately $40,000 were for appropriate district purposes, charges were not properly approved or adequately supported. All 230 charges had one or more exceptions that could have led to potentially inappropriate card use, including approximately $38,000 in charges were not properly approved prior to the card being used; and approximately $12,000 in charges did not have adequate support to show what was purchased.

Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District – Information Technology (IT) (Westchester County)

District officials did not ensure that unneeded network user accounts were disabled in a timely manner. As a result, 21% of the district’s network user accounts were unneeded and provided additional entry points that could have been used to inappropriately access the network and view personal, private and sensitive information, make unauthorized changes to records, deny legitimate access to electronic information, or gain access to or control over other IT functions. Auditors found that officials did not convey management’s expectations for managing network user accounts through written policies and procedures or disable 551 unneeded network user accounts.

Stafford Fire Department Inc. – Financial Management (Genesee County)

The board and treasurer did not properly manage the department’s finances. The board did not adopt realistic budgets or take an active role in monitoring department finances. As a result, the operating budget was underestimated by $29,667 in 2021 and by $33,298 in 2022. Auditors found the board did not: include revenue estimates in the budgets for 2021, 2022 and 2023. It did not develop a written multiyear financial or capital plan to help guide budget development and save for capital asset and equipment purchases.

Town of Baldwin – Claims Auditing (Chemung County)

The board did not always properly audit claims before approving them for payment. Due to insufficient documentation, auditors were unable to determine, and the board was unable to support, it approved claims before payment. A review of 71 claims totaling approximately $55,100 determined that town officials did not comply with the town’s procurement policy. In addition, 23 claims totaling approximately $35,000 did not contain evidence that the required competition was sought and nine claims totaling approximately $7,400 were not supported with sufficient documentation such as detailed receipts, weigh tickets or itemized invoices.

Town of Berkshire – Procurement and Conflict of Interest (Tioga County)

The board did not consistently seek competition for purchases or avoid conflicts of interest. As a result, goods and services may not have been procured in a cost-effective manner. Of the 113 purchases totaling $771,727 auditors reviewed, officials did not seek or could not support that they sought competition for 36 purchases totaling $211,171. The town may have saved $3,891 on diesel fuel purchases if town officials had used the New York State Office of General Services contract to purchase diesel fuel. Additionally, the highway superintendent had a prohibited interest in a contract between the town and his construction company, providing construction services totaling $3,000.

Town of Hamburg – Finance Office (Erie County)

The board and town officials did not ensure that credit card purchases were supported and for proper purposes. As a result, the former director of finance made improper credit card purchases totaling approximately $2,000 and approved her own credit card purchases. The former director was arrested in September 2022 for charges relating to her use of the town’s credit card. She pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in December 2022. Additionally, the board and town officials did not ensure the finance office payroll was accurate and supported. The town also made improper, questionable and unsupported payroll payments totaling more than $19,000 to the former director while an employee who reported to her received unsupported out-of-title payroll payments totaling approximately $1,400. Additionally, personnel directors approved their own overtime pay totaling more than $5,000.