Village of Mount Kisco – Transparency of Fiscal Activities (S9-24-18)

Issued Date
December 20, 2024

[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Village of Mount Kisco (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 l Reported the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public in a transparent manner.

Key Findings

The Board did not:

  • Provide for a timely annual audit of the CFO’s 2022-23 fiscal year financial records and reports. The annual audit for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2023 was not presented to the Board until March 2024, more than nine months after fiscal year end.
  • Ensure the past four fiscal year AFRs were prepared and filed as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30.
  • Report the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public, as required by GML Section 30 and New York State Village Law (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 seven recommendations to help the Board and 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.