Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Almond (Village) Board of Trustees (Board):
- Conducted an annual audit of the Village Chief Fiscal Officer’s (CFO) financial records and reports,
- Filed the required Annual Financial Report (AFR) with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), and
- Reported the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public in a transparent manner.
Key Findings
The Board did not:
- Conduct an annual audit, or cause to be audited, the CFO’s 2022-23 financial records and reports, as required by New York State Village Law (Village Law) Section 4-408,
- Ensure the past four fiscal year AFRs were prepared and filed with OSC, as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30, or
- Report the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public, as required by GML Section 30 and Village Law Section 4-408.
Also, the water control receivable account was not maintained and interim reports, such as trial balances and bank reconciliations were not provided to the Board for review.
The Board’s ineffective oversight resulted in a lack of transparency with the public regarding the condition of the CFOs’ records and the Village’s fiscal activities.As a result, taxpayers and interested parties could not assess the Village’s financial operations to make informed decisions.
Recommendations
The audit report includes eight recommendations to help the Board and CFO improve the transparency of their fiscal activities. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have taken or will take corrective action.