Audit Objective

Determine whether any Town of Chemung (Town) officials had prohibited interests in Town contracts.

Key Findings

Two Board members are the owners of two separate auto service corporations which provided automotive work to the Town, totaling $5,931, during our audit period. In accordance with New York State General Municipal Law Article 18, each invoice for repair work provided by the auto service corporations qualified as a contract with the Town.

As sole owners of the auto service corporations, the Board members were deemed to have an interest in each of the contracts. As no statutory exceptions applied in every fiscal year, each Board member’s interest was prohibited pursuant to General Municipal Law.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that officials and employees are familiar with and follow the requirements of New York State General Municipal Law Article 18, as they relate to conflict of interests.
• Adopt procedures to help prevent prohibited interests in contracts.

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