Audit Objective 

Determine whether the Town of Covington (Town) Tax Collector remitted all collections as required by New York State Town Law (Town Law).

Key Findings 

The Tax Collector did not remit collections to the Town Supervisor (Supervisor) and Wyoming County (County) Treasurer within the timeframes established by Town Law Section 35. As a result, funds were not provided to finance Town and County operations in a timely manner.

• The Tax Collector did not remit taxes to the Supervisor at least weekly and as required by Town Law.
• The Tax Collector made one payment totaling approximately $800,000 to the County Treasurer in April 2024, instead of paying three separate required payments totaling $706,991 in February, $53,702 in March and $36,747 in April.
• As of September 25, 2024, the Tax Collector had not yet remitted approximately $1,600 in interest and penalties to the Supervisor, which were collected for late real property tax payments.

Recommendations 

The audit report includes three recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Town’s tax collection practices.

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