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Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town Clerk/Tax Collector (Clerk) maintained adequate records and properly deposited and remitted money in a timely manner.

Key Findings

• Real property taxes totaling nearly $2.2 million in 2016 and $1.3 million in 2017 were not always remitted to the Supervisor and County Treasurer (Treasurer) in a timely manner. For example, the Clerk collected tax payments totaling $774,127 during the first three weeks of January 2016 but remitted these collections to the Supervisor between four to six weeks later.
• Clerk fees and real property taxes were not always deposited within the required timeframes. Clerk fees collected during five months of our audit period totaling $11,179 were deposited from between one to 33 days after receipt. In 2016, the Clerk deposited $37,036 in real property taxes from between one to 24 days after receipt.
• Bank reconciliations were not always prepared or accurate.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that all collections are deposited and remitted in a timely manner.
• Ensure that bank reconciliations are prepared each month.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.