Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the Village’s financial operations for the period of August 1, 2008 through September 27, 2013.

Background

The Village of Riverside is located in Steuben County and has a population of approximately 500 residents. The Village Board is the elected legislative body, which comprises the Mayor and four Trustees. The Village’s 2013-14 budget appropriations totaled approximately $411,500 for all funds.

Key Findings

• Due to the Board’s continuous lack of oversight of the Village’s financial activities, the Treasurer was able to misappropriate as much as $83,000 of Village funds prior to detection.
• The Board has not established written financial policies and procedures to safeguard assets, which allowed the Treasurer to perform all cash receipt and disbursements duties without oversight.
• The Board and Mayor did not ensure that the necessary supporting documentation was attached to the claims prior to approving them for payment and that claims were for valid Village purposes.
• The Treasurer did not keep complete and accurate financial reports, perform bank reconciliations and file required reports with OSC.

Key Recommendations

• Take appropriate action to recover all misappropriated moneys.
• Adopt comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure segregation of duties or establish compensating controls for the handling of cash receipts and disbursements, credit cards, utility payments and payroll processing.
• Require supporting documentation for all claims prior to their approval.
• Maintain complete and accurate financial records and reports, perform bank reconciliations and file all financial reports in a timely manner.