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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Amherst Industrial Development Agency (AIDA) Board (Board) properly approved and monitored projects.

Key Findings

The Board did not properly approve and monitor projects.

• The Board did not ensure its project approvals were based on project applications that were completed and supported with applicable supplemental documentation and an adequate cost-benefit analysis (CBA).
• The Board and officials did not properly monitor to ensure the annual report filed with the New York State Authorities Budget Office (ABO) and the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) was accurate with respect to job performance, sales tax exemptions and payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) information for current and active projects.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure project applications are properly completed and supported with applicable supplemental documentation and that CBAs contain meaningful summaries and are accurately calculated based on the correct sales tax amounts.
• Establish adequate procedures to review and verify that all data in the annual report is accurate and complete.

IDA officials generally disagreed with our findings; however, they generally agreed with our recommendations. Appendix C includes our comment on issues raised in the IDA’s response letter.