Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to determine whether District controls are adequate to ensure that financial activity is properly recorded and reported and that Company moneys are safeguarded for the period January 1, 2012, to May 3, 2013.

Background

The Claryville Fire District is a district corporation of the State, distinct and separate from the Town of Neversink located in Sullivan County. The Board of Fire Commissioners consists of five elected members. The District’s general fund budget totaled $185,551 for the 2013 fiscal year.

Key Findings

• The Board has adopted a code of ethics, but it has not adopted an investment policy or a procurement policy.
• The Board also has not ensured that procedures are in place for financial recording and reporting. As a result, although the Treasurer did submit monthly financial reports to the Board, they were not complete because the Treasurer had not reconciled the cash and bank balances.
• The Board does not perform, or contract for, an annual audit of the Treasurer’s records.
• While the Treasurer maintained cash balances showing increases and decreases for checking and saving accounts, he did not reconcile those cash balances to the monthly bank statement balances. Because of these weaknesses, we selected all 39 check disbursements totaling $29,914 from January 1, 2013, through February 28, 2013, and found that the disbursements appeared to be for proper District purposes.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt an investment and procurement policy.
• Ensure that formal written policies and procedures are in place for financial recording and reporting.
• Perform, or contract for, an annual audit of the Treasurer’s records.
• Reconcile the District’s accounting records to the bank statements on a monthly basis, and follow up on any differences.