Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the Board’s oversight role of the Water District for the period March 14, 2012 through October 6, 2015.

Background

The Town of Ashford is located in Cattaraugus County. The Town, which has approximately 2,100 residents, is governed by an elected five-member Town Board. General fund appropriations for 2016 fiscal year total $5 million.

Key Findings

• Town officials could not provide a detailed project plan detailing the project scope, timetable or documentation to support the estimated costs.
• The Board did not ensure that adopted water rates would be sufficient to cover the cost of District operations.

Key Recommendations

• Develop and monitor a detailed project plan to ensure that the water project is completed in a timely manner.
• Review water rates to ensure that rates are assessed in a fair and equitable fashion and revenues will sufficiently cover expenditures.