Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to assess the Board’s oversight of the District’s financial operations for the period January 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

Background

The Town of Hempstead Sanitary District Number 14 is located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County. The District is governed by an elected five-member Board of Commissioners. The District’s budgeted appropriations for 2016 were approximately $373,000.

Key Findings

• The Board has not established an internal control environment that fosters compliance and transparency due to its lack of policies, guidelines and monitoring.
• The Board did not ensure that bank reconciliations were performed.
• Claims to be paid were not presented on an abstract, and Board minutes did not indicate that the Board authorized, via resolution, the payment of claims audited and reviewed.
• The District has not submitted its statutorily required financial statements to the Office of the State Comptroller.

Key Recommendations

• In accordance with General Municipal Law, adopt a code of ethics, an investment policy and a comprehensive procurement policy.
• Assign an individual to perform monthly bank reconciliations.
• Compare all claim vouchers with a list of checks to be approved before payment and include a statement in the minutes detailing the total number of claims and total dollar amount approved to be paid by the Treasurer.
• Prepare and file the District’s annual financial report with OSC in a timely manner.