Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the Supervisor’s financial records and reports for the period January 1, 2012 through November 13, 2013.

Background

The Town of Covington is located in Wyoming County and has a population of 1,232. The Town Board is comprised of five elected members The Town’s 2013 budgeted appropriations for all funds totaled $755,985.

Key Findings

• Due to the poor condition of the Town’s financial records and reports, the Board was unable to determine the Town’s true financial condition or effectively monitor the Town’s financial operations.
• The Supervisor did not prepare Bank reconciliations.
• The Supervisor did not submit adequate monthly financial reports to the Board.
• The Board did not audit claims prior to payment.
• The Board did not perform an annual audit of the Supervisor’s records and reports.
• The Town’s highway fund does not have sufficient fund balance to cover its operations if it pays back a $139,000 interfund loan to the general fund.

Key Recommendations

• Maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date accounting records and should consider either appointing a bookkeeper with sufficient technical skills or contracting with an accounting firm to fulfill certain financial duties, subject to Board approval.
• Prepare bank reconciliations and periodically submit the bank reconciliations to the Board for its review.
• Ensure that the Supervisor submits detailed monthly statements of all moneys received and disbursed to the Board.
• Disburse Town moneys only after claims have been properly audited by the Board and included on the abstract of audited claims prepared by the Town Clerk.
• Annually audit the Supervisor records as required.