[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

To determine whether the Town of Smyrna (Town) Board (Board) properly audited claims prior to payment.

Key Findings

The Board did not always properly audit claims prior to approving them for payment. We reviewed 173 claims totaling $338,876 and found:

• Sixteen purchases totaling $58,502 were approved without evidence of compliance with the Town’s procurement policy.
• Diesel fuel purchases totaling $46,655 were approved without evidence of compliance with competitive bidding requirements.
• Town officials may have saved $4,246 in fuel costs (9 percent) if they had used the New York State Office of General Services (OGS) contract pricing option.
• The Board did not authorize the pre-payment of utility service claims. As a result, four claims totaling $1,267 were paid prior to the Board’s audit.

Key Recommendations

• Comply with competitive bidding and the Town’s procurement policy quote requirements.
• Pass a resolution to authorize the payment in advance of the audit of claims for utility services.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated that they are taking corrective action.