Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Venice (Town) Town Supervisor (Supervisor) maintained complete, accurate and up-to-date accounting records and reports.

Key Findings

The Supervisors’ accounting records were not complete, accurate or up-to-date. As a result, transparency and the Board’s ability to monitor financial operations were diminished. Of the 39 cash receipts totaling $6.1 million and 81 cash disbursements totaling $586,823 we reviewed:

• 20 cash receipts totaling $3.1 million either did not match bank deposits or lacked adequate supporting documentation.
• 25 cash receipts totaling $4.8 million were not recorded timely in the Supervisor’s accounting records.
• 11 disbursements totaling $39,038 were not recorded in the accounting records and eight disbursements totaling $33,021 lacked adequate support documentation and were not Board approved.

In addition, bank reconciliations for 15 of the 36 months reviewed were not performed, the Town’s 2020 required annual update document (AUD) was filed 310 days late and the 2021 and 2022 AUDs were not filed. Furthermore, the Supervisor did not present financial records and reports to the Board for audit, as required.

Key Recommendations

• Maintain accurate, supported and timely financial records, complete bank reconciliations and provide financial records and reports to Board.
• Ensure AUDs are filed in a timely manner.

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