Audit Objective 

Determine whether Town of Elbridge (Town) officials accurately paid employees and properly maintained employee leave accruals. 

Key Findings 

Town officials did not ensure that all payroll payments were accurate, supported and authorized and that leave accrual records were maintained accurately. We determined that: 

• The Town Supervisor (Supervisor) approved payroll without having any information regarding the numbers of hours that employees worked, the leave time that they used, or their leave accrual balances. Also, the Supervisor’s secretary (secretary) and Highway Superintendent were unaware of all provisions of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and the Town’s employee handbook (handbook) that affect leave accrual records.
• The handbook did not require salaried employees to prepare time sheets or timecards. As a result, seven full-time employees with 2024 salaries totaling $238,569 did not prepare time records to document their days and hours worked and leave accruals that they used.
• The Town paid a $2,600 health insurance buyout payment without formal Board authorization and a retention incentive that exceeded the Board’s authorization by $1,000.
• Leave accrual records were improperly maintained. Consequently, employees were credited with leave time to which they were not entitled. 

Recommendations 

The audit report includes nine recommendations that, if implemented, will help the Board and Town officials improve their payroll and leave accrual processes. 

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