Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Putnam (Town) Town Supervisor (Supervisor) maintained complete, accurate and timely financial records and reports.

Key Findings

The Supervisor did not maintain the Town’s accounting records and reports, as required, in a complete, accurate, up to date or timely manner. Without reliable accounting records, the Town Board (Board) cannot make sound financial decisions.

• Due to the Supervisor’s lack of oversight of the former bookkeeper, including ensuring bank reconciliations were performed, the Town’s accounting records were not reliable.
  • Real property tax revenues were overstated by a total of $782,864 in the general fund and understated in the highway and fire protection funds.
  • $49,765 in sales tax and other department revenues were not recorded.
  • ​​​​​​​Cash balances in the general fund were understated by $69,968 and highway fund cash balances were understated by $54,570.
• The Board did not annually audit the Supervisor’s records.
• As of May 31, 2022, the 2019 through 2021 annual update documents (AUDs) were not filed with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), as required. The AUDs were between 91 and 822 days late.

Key Recommendations

• Maintain proper accounting records, complete bank reconciliations, perform annual audits and file AUDs on a timely basis.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to take corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in the Town’s response letter.​​​​​​​