Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine Highway Department and Parks Department operations for the period January 1, 2015 through August 31, 2016.

Background

The Town of Smithtown is located in Suffolk County and has a population of approximately 118,000. The Town is governed by an elected five-member Town Board. General fund budgeted appropriations for 2016 totaled approximately $43.7 million and highway fund budgeted appropriations for 2016 totaled approximately $26.1 million.

Key Findings

• The Board did not enter into written shared service agreements with any of the eight municipalities permitted to use Town fuel.
• Neither the Highway Department nor Parks Department maintained records for 10,636 gallons of diesel fuel or 11,329 gallons of gasoline dispensed from the Town’s four mobile fuel transfer tanks, and the Parks Department did not keep adequate records showing the amount of fuel used to fill mobile transfer fuel tanks.
• Parks Department staff did not maintain any inventory records for parking permits.
• Officials did not have written procedures requiring that the number of parking permits purchased be periodically reconciled with the number of permits sold.

Key Recommendations

• Enter into written shared service agreements with any municipality using Town fuel.
• Maintain detailed records of all fuel used to fill and dispensed from mobile fuel transfer tanks.
• Maintain an accurate inventory of all nonresident parking permits purchased, on hand and issued.
• Periodically reconcile the number of nonresident parking permits purchased, sold and on hand and promptly investigate and resolve any discrepancies.