Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to determine if internal controls over transfer station operations for the period January 1, 2011, to July 31, 2012.

Key Findings

• The Town does not reconcile the amount of money collected with the amount of trash disposed at the transfer station. We found that over a three-month period in 2012, the weight of the solid waste the Town paid to dispose of at the Franklin County landfill exceeded the amount of trash accounted for as being received at the Town’s transfer station, resulting in approximately $10,000 in missing revenues.
• We found weak internal controls over cash receipts and poor monitoring of solid waste received at the transfer station. One individual is responsible for weighing the solid waste to determine the amount owed from the customers, collecting fees, issuing receipts, and recording the collections.
• Duplicate receipts were not prepared for moneys received at the transfer station and no weigh slips were retained. The absence of the weigh slips and cash receipt records makes it impossible to determine if the proper amount of disposal fees were charged to customers and that all moneys collected were subsequently turned over to the bookkeeper in the Supervisor’s office.

Key Recommendations

• Implement procedures to reconcile the amount of solid waste received at the transfer station to the amounts that the Town pays to have it transferred to the landfill.
• Implement a better system of internal controls at the transfer station such as having one individual record the amount of trash brought in and record the amount of money received and a second person receive the cash for these receipts.
• Design procedures for cash receipts at the transfer station to ensure all moneys received are accounted for and deposited in the bank. Reconcile the money received to the supporting documents to ensure the proper amount of cash is turned over to the bookkeeper for transfer station operations.