Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Great Neck (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 fiscal year financial records and reports, as required by New York State Village Law (Village Law) Section 4-408. The 2018-19 fiscal year was the last fiscal year audited; the four subsequent years have not been audited.
- Ensure the past five 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 for the past four fiscal years to the public, as required by GML Section 30 and Village Law Section 4-408.
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. As a result, taxpayers and interested parties could not assess the Village’s financial operations to make informed decisions.
Recommendations
The audit report includes six recommendations to help the Board and Clerk-Treasurer improve the transparency of their fiscal activities. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have taken or will take corrective action.