The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the audit of claims process for the period January 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013.

Background

The Town of Andover is located in Allegany County and is governed by an elected five-member Town Board. The Town’s 2013 budget appropriations totaled $792,384.

Key Findings

• The Clerk did not number claims or prepare abstracts of claims to be approved by the Board for payment by the Supervisor.
• Only the total amount of claims approved by the Board for payment was included in the Board minutes. We found that the amounts in the minutes did not agree with the total amounts of the approved claims for two of the four months we reviewed.

Key Recommendations

• Present sequentially numbered claims to the Board for audit approval. All claims, except where exempted by statute, should be presented to the Board for audit. Prepare monthly abstracts (list of all claims) specifying the numbers of the claims, the names of the claimants, the amounts allowed and the funds and appropriation accounts to be charged.
• Enter in the minutes the total dollar amounts and the sequential numbers of the claims approved for payment by the Board.