Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of White Creek (Town) Supervisor provided proper oversight of disbursements and filed the annual update documents (AUDs) in a timely manner.

Key Findings

The Supervisor did not provide proper oversight of disbursements or ensure the required AUDs were filed with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) in a timely manner. Without adequate oversight, the Supervisor cannot ensure that all disbursements were made as authorized. Further, the lack of filing AUDs in a timely manner impairs the Town Board (Board), Town residents, OSC and other interested parties’ ability to monitor the Town’s operations and financial condition.

• We reviewed 199 disbursements totaling $516,716 and determined the Supervisor did not:
  • Review any of the 199 disbursements to ensure the disbursements were accurate and made for appropriate purposes and did not authorize the 44 electronic funds transfers (EFTs) or sign the 155 checks.
  • Properly sign checks; instead, a rubber signature stamp was used, which is not permitted.
  • Review the canceled check images to ensure they agreed to the Board-approved abstract.
• The 2019 through 2022 AUDs were not filed.

Key Recommendations

• Stop the practice of using a signature stamp for the Supervisor’s signature, and have Town checks properly signed.
• Compare checks to abstracts or certified payrolls and review and approve all transfers.
• File the required AUDs on a timely basis.

Town officials agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have initiated corrective action.