Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the Court’s financial operations for the period January 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.

Background

The Town of East Greenbush is located in Rensselaer County and has a population of approximately 16,500. The Town, which is governed by an elected five-member Town Board, maintains a Justice Court with two elected Justices. The Justices’ combined collections in 2014 totaled approximately $598,000 for fines, fees and surcharges and $42,000 for bail.

Key Findings

• Court personnel did not complete monthly bank reconciliations and accountabilities.
• Justice Engle had an overage of $4,370 at the end of our audit period.
• The Town Comptroller has not conduced an audit of the Court’s records for 2014, and the Board did not contract with a certified public accountant to do so.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that monthly bank reconciliations and analyses of Court liabilities for comparison with available cash are prepared and reviewed.
• Report and send the amount of the overage to OSC’s Justice Court Fund.
• Provide adequate management oversight of the Court’s operations, including an effective annual audit of the Justices’ records.