Town of Chesterfield – Town Clerk (2024M-110) | Office of the New York State Comptroller

Issued Date

January 24, 2025

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Chesterfield (Town) Town Clerk (Clerk) properly recorded, deposited, remitted and reported collections.

Key Findings

The Clerk did not properly record, deposit, remit or report collections. As a result, officials do not have assurance that all collections are accounted for, and money could be lost or misappropriated. The Clerk and Deputy Clerk did not record and issue receipts for collections totaling $18,289 received for 273 of 805 fees (34 percent). The Clerk also did not:

Prepare accurate monthly reports and remit collections to the Supervisor and other agencies in the appropriate amounts.
Prepare monthly bank reconciliations and accountability analyses which compare the amount of cash on hand and on deposit in the bank to detailed lists of amounts due to the Supervisor and other agencies.

Had the Town Board (Board), as a whole, fulfilled its fiscal oversight responsibilities by conducting a thorough annual audit of the Clerk’s records, the deficiencies identified may have been detected and addressed sooner.

Key Recommendations

Ensure receipts are accurately recorded and issued for all collections.
Submit a monthly report to the Supervisor containing all collections for the month and remit all collections to the Supervisor and other agencies in the appropriate amounts.
Prepare monthly bank reconciliations and accountability analyses.

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

Audit Period

January 1, 2022 – May 31, 2024.

We extended our audit period forward to June 3, 2024 to conduct a cash count of the Clerk’s undeposited money on hand.

Background

The Town, located in Essex County, is governed by the elected five-member Board composed of the Supervisor and four Council members. The Board is responsible for the general oversight of Town operations and finances, including overseeing the elected Clerk’s financial activities.

The Clerk collects fees for a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, marriage licenses, certified copies of death certificates, dog licenses and renewals, sporting licenses (e.g., hunting and fishing) and games of chance and bingo licenses. The Clerk is responsible for remitting collections to the Supervisor and other agencies.

The Clerk is assisted by an appointed Deputy Clerk who performs limited duties, such as receiving collections in the Clerk’s absence. The current Deputy Clerk was first appointed on February 8, 2022.