Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the Town’s financial condition and to examine the Town Clerk’s operations for the period January 1, 2012 through May 31, 2016.

Background

The Town of Dresden is located in Washington County and has approximately 330 year-round residents and approximately 3,000 summer residents. The Town is governed by an elected five-member Town Board. Budgeted appropriations for 2016 totaled approximately $1.1 million.

Key Findings

• The Board appropriated more fund balance in the general fund than was actually available to finance operations in 2013 and 2014.
• The Board has not developed a multiyear financial and capital plan to address the Town's long-term priorities.
• The Clerk did not remit tax collections to the Supervisor on a weekly basis as required and did not deposit property tax moneys in a timely manner.
• The Board did not audit or provide for an annual audit of the Clerk's records.

Key Recommendations

• Review estimates of fund balance at year-end and not budget to appropriate fund balance to finance annual operations in excess of the planned fund balance levels.
• Develop a comprehensive multiyear financial and capital plan.
• Remit tax moneys and the interest and penalties collected on the tax collections to the Supervisor in a timely manner and deposit all money in the bank in a timely manner.
• Conduct a thorough annual audit of the Clerk's records.