Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the City’s Boat Basin fund financial operations for the period of January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

Background

The City of Rye is located in Westchester County, covers 20 square miles and has a population of approximately 15,000. The City is governed by an elected Mayor and a six-member City Council. For the 2012 fiscal year, the Boat Basin had revenue of approximately $670,000.

Key Finding

• The City’s Boat Basin operations are generally operating efficiently. However, the cost allocation of administrative services could be improved. In 2000 and 2001, the City contracted with an outside vendor to analyze and calculate cost allocations for its enterprise funds including the Boat Basin fund. Although the cost allocation was updated in 2001, it has not been updated since that time. The City increased the administrative services costs charged to the Boat Basin each subsequent year until 2009, but City officials could not provide documentation showing their methodology for calculating these annual increases. From 2009 through 2013, the City has charged an annual flat fee of $88,367 for administrative services provided to the Boat Basin. We estimated the amounts the City undercharged the Boat Basin fund, during fiscal years 2009 through 2013, using the last cost allocation methodology in 2001 and the City’s actual costs for each of the five years. Based on the 2001 methodology, the Boat Basin has been undercharged approximately $50,000, since 2009.

Key Recommendation

• Update and annually monitor the cost allocation for the Boat Basin fund.