Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the Board's oversight of financial operations, the Town's procurement practices and claims auditing process and internal controls over the Justice Court's financial operations for the period January 1, 2015 through April 30, 2016.

Background

The Town of Moira is located in Franklin County, contains the Village of Brushton within its borders and has a population of approximately 2,900. The Town, which maintains a Justice Court with two elected Justices, is governed by an elected five-member Town Board. Budgeted appropriations for 2016 totaled approximately $985,000.

Key Findings

• The Town's accounting records were incomplete and inaccurate.
• The current and former Supervisors did not prepare monthly bank reconciliations, provide the Board with complete and accurate monthly financial reports or file accurate or timely annual financial reports with OSC.
• The Board did not have adequate procedures for auditing claims.
• Town officials made purchases without complying with competitive bidding requirements.
• Bank reconciliations and accountability analyses were not performed for all Court bank accounts.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that the Town's accounting records are complete, accurate and maintained in a timely manner.
• Prepare and provide the Board with complete and accurate monthly financial reports, including budget status reports and reconciled cash balances for each fund, and file annual financial reports with OSC in a timely manner.
• Perform a thorough and deliberate audit of claims.
• Ensure that purchase and public works contracts exceeding the statutory competitive bidding thresholds are executed in compliance with statute.
• Ensure that bank reconciliations and accountability analyses are prepared monthly for Court funds.