Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review internal controls over the Court’s financial activity for the period January 1, 2013 through July 9, 2014.

Background

The Town of Milford is located in Otsego County and has a population of approximately 3,040. The Town is governed by an elected five-member Town Board, which is responsible for the general oversight of the Town’s financial activities, including those of the Town’s Justice Court. The Court collected almost $142,000 in fines, fees and bail money during 2013.

Key Findings

• Tickets which were paid in full or dismissed remained open because they had not been properly reported to the State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
• The Justices did not implement sufficient mitigating controls over financial activity, such as segregation of duties.
• The Board did not always complete an audit of each Justice’s records in a timely manner.

Key Recommendations

• Periodically review and reconcile the DMV’s pending-ticket log with caseload activity to ensure that tickets are properly reported in a timely manner.
• Implement segregation of duties to the extent possible.
• Perform a thorough and timely audit of the Justices’ records annually.