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

Town of Keene – Records and Reports (Essex County)

The supervisor did not maintain complete, accurate and timely accounting records. As a result, the board lacked reliable records and reports to manage the town’s financial operations, account balances were inaccurate and certain revenues and expenditures were not reported in the annual financial report. Of the 20 journal entries reviewed, six were not properly recorded, six were not supported and eight were not recorded in a timely manner. In addition, no one independently reviewed and approved entries. Bank reconciliations also were generally not prepared or provided to the board in a timely manner and adjusted bank balances did not agree with general ledger cash balances for 55 of 133 bank reconciliations. The supervisor also did not provide adequate monthly financial reports to the board and the board did not annually audit the supervisor’s records, as required.

Town of Bergen – Town Supervisor (Genesee County)

The supervisor generally maintained complete and accurate accounting records but needs to provide more oversight over the individuals carrying out recordkeeping duties. Furthermore, the supervisor did not annually submit sufficient accounting records to the board for audit and while he filed the annual financial report (AFR) in a timely manner, it was not accurate. The supervisor also approved bank reconciliations without determining whether they were performed correctly and without verifying that cash balances in the accounting records were accurate and overstated cash by $747,000 in the 2022 AFR. In addition, the supervisor did not perform a periodic review of all journal entries and financial transactions as required and the accountant recorded financial transactions without oversight

North Babylon Union Free School District – Online Banking (Suffolk County)

Auditors determined that online banking transactions were appropriate, but the board and district officials did not meet all the requirements of state law and must improve controls over online banking to ensure these transactions are secure. In addition, auditors found that district officials did not enter into an adequate written bank agreement with their banking institution, and the board did not adopt an online banking policy. Employees who performed online banking activities did not receive cybersecurity awareness training. The district’s acceptable use policy was insufficient and not communicated to employees who performed online banking transactions.

Whitney Point Central School District – Information Technology (IT) (Broome County)

District officials did not adequately manage nonstudent network user accounts, adopt an IT contingency plan and were unaware of all the network users that had access to the district’s network, leading to an increased risk it could suffer a serious interruption to operations and face a potential inability to communicate during a disruption. In addition to sensitive IT control weaknesses that auditors confidentially communicated to officials, district officials did not disable 19 nonstudent network user accounts that were not needed or used in more than five years.

KIPP Troy Prep Charter School – Resident Tuition Billing and Collections (Rensselaer County)

School officials and staff accurately billed and collected resident district tuition for the sample of 50 students reviewed. They also accurately recorded and deposited intact the 30 collections reviewed. However, they did not deposit collections in a timely manner. Officials and staff did not deposit and record district tuition collections totaling $5.5 million within three days, as required by the school’s policy. Because school officials did not deposit collections as required, the school did not have access to the undeposited funds, and the risk of loss, diversion or theft of school funds was increased.

South Jefferson Central School District – Payroll (Jefferson County)

Auditors reviewed salaries and wages paid to 40 employees totaling $471,526 to determine whether they were accurately paid. Auditors also reviewed payroll change reports for two months during the audit period to determine whether salary and wage increases from one paycheck date to the next paycheck date for 76 employees totaling $126,395 were authorized and supported by time records. Except for minor discrepancies, the employee salaries and wages reviewed were accurately paid and the payroll increases were calculated correctly and supported by adequate time records.