Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine internal controls over the Court’s financial activity for the period June 1, 2012 through August 31, 2013.

Background

The Village of Greenwich is located in Washington County and has a population of approximately 1,750 residents. The Village is governed by an elected Board of Trustees comprising a Mayor and four Trustees. The Village provides general administrative services including the operation of a Justice Court with an elected Justice and an appointed court clerk.

Key Findings

• The Justice did not consistently perform bank reconciliations and did not compare the reconciled bank balance with her manual cash records.
• The Court issues receipts for fines, fees and bail produced from its computerized accounting system. However, there is a weakness with the system because the receipt number and date can be altered or deleted after the receipt has been printed and issued. Further, Court officials did not use manual press numbered duplicate receipts as a mitigating control.
• The Justice did not deposit all collections in a timely manner, as required by law.
• The Justice did not consistently submit monthly reports to the Justice Court Fund on time.
• Although the previous Justice remitted the balance of his bank account to the Village and subsequently closed the account when he left office on March 30, 2012, the current Justice has not properly reviewed the former Justice’s pending cases.

Key Recommendations

• Prepare monthly bank reconciliations and accountability analyses in a timely manner. The Justice should maintain adequate cash records so that the cash balance can be compared to the reconciled bank balance each month.
• Use manual press numbered receipts in addition to the computer generated receipts due to the weakness created by the ability to alter or delete receipts in the computerized system.
• Ensure that all moneys received are deposited in a timely manner.
• Ensure that all monthly reports are submitted to the JCF in a timely manner.
• Monitor and review all pending cases and close them, as applicable.