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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Tioga County Industrial Development Agency (TCIDA) Board of Directors (Board) and Executive Administrator (Administrator) properly approved and monitored tax abatement and revolving loan projects.

Key Findings

The Board adopted adequate policies and guidelines for project approval. In addition, payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) for four projects and 26 revolving loan payments were accurate and received on time. However, the Board and the Administrator did not properly monitor tax abatement and loan projects. The Board did not require the Administrator to:

• Compare reported job creation and retention figures with project goals.
• Track sales tax exemptions to ensure that the exemptions taken were within allowable limits.

Key Recommendations

• Require the Administrator to compare reported job creation and retention figures to agreements, at least annually, and provide that assessment to the Board.
• Require the Administrator to track sales tax exemptions taken to ensure that they are within the approved amounts, and provide that information to the Board.

TCIDA officials agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.