Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Copenhagen (Village) Board of Trustees (Board):
- Conducted an annual audit of the Village Chief Fiscal Officers’ (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 CFOs’ 2022-23 financial records and reports, as required by New York State Village Law (Village Law) Section 4-408.
- Ensure the AFR was prepared and filed with OSC, as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30. The last filed AFR was for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2022, filed on July 18, 2024; 717 days after the due date.
- 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, the CFO’s records were not properly maintained or recorded in a timely manner which created gaps or delays in preparing records, completing annual audits and filing reports.
Although our review did not identify any significant fiscal concerns with the Village’s general fund for the fiscal year 2022-23, the Board’s ineffective oversight resulted in a lack of transparency with the public regarding the condition of the CFO’s records and the Village’s fiscal activities.
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.