Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Cedarhurst (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. The 2019 fiscal year audit was completed in May 2023, subsequent years have not been audited.
- Ensure the past six 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.
In addition, revenue and expenditure accounting entries totaling $5.5 million were not properly recorded. For example, payroll and health insurance amounts, and the tax levy were entered on the balance sheet instead of being categorized as salary expenditures and real property tax revenue. Due to the Village’s lack of transparency, taxpayers and other interested parties could not properly assess the Village’s financial condition and make informed decisions.
Recommendations
The audit report includes six 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.