Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine disbursements and the real property tax and water rent billings and collections for the period June 1, 2010, to April 30, 2012.

Background

The Village of Delanson is located within the Town of Duanesburg in Schenectady County. The Village Board of Trustees (Board) which comprises three elected members - the Mayor and two Trustees – governs the Village. In the 2010-11 fiscal year the Village had combined operating expenses in the general and water funds totaling $268,500 and in the 2011-12 fiscal year the Village had combined appropriations of $312,000.

Key Findings

• The Clerk and Treasurer both independently perform incompatible cash disbursement duties and compensating controls have not been established to mitigate this weakness.
• The Board did not require claims to be adequately documented or appropriately audit and approve all claims.
• Internal controls were not adequate to ensure real property taxes and water rents were properly accounted for. Incompatible duties were not segregated and the Clerk did not maintain appropriate, complete and accurate records to detail real property tax and water rent billings and collections.
• Deposits were not made timely in compliance with Real Property Tax Law and Village policy and appropriate amounts of interest and penalties were not collected.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure incompatible disbursement duties are appropriately segregated or mitigating controls are in place.
• Require claims to be appropriately documented with an itemized invoice, documentation of receipt of goods, department head approval and quotes or bids as required by Village policy. Make disbursements only for those claims audited and approved by the Board.
• Segregate duties within the tax and water rent collection process so that one individual is not responsible for receiving, recording and depositing moneys.
• Develop a system of recording tax and water rent payments that ensures each payment received is properly recorded, including appropriate interest and penalties. Ensure that payments are deposited in a timely manner.