Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the Agency’s management practices for the period January 1, 2013 through November 19, 2014.

Background

The Schuyler County Industrial Development Agency is an independent public corporation whose purpose is to promote, develop and assist industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, research and recreation facilities. The Agency, which was created in 1971, is governed by an eight-member Board that is appointed by the County Legislature. For calendar year 2014, the Agency had 10 active projects, and it entered into four sublease agreements with businesses.

Key Findings

• The Board has not established criteria and procedures for selecting projects and subleases.
• The Board does not document its approval process or rationale for approved projects or subleases and does not prepare a documented cost-benefit analysis or risk assessment during the project approval process.
• The Board has not established adequate, written criteria and processes for monitoring projects.
• Recapture provisions do not include specific requirements for recourse and plans for implementation or potential penalties for projects that do not meet their goals.

Key Recommendations

• Establish policies that define criteria and procedures critical to project and sublease approval and monitoring.
• Ensure that cost-benefit analyses and risk assessments are completed and documented based on verified data and meet economic criteria before approval of projects.
• Develop procedures to monitor projects and subleases and ensure compliance with agreement terms.
• Enforce recapture provisions if a sublessee does not meet performance expectations or comply with project or sublease agreement terms.