Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the Village’s financial condition for the period of June 1, 2011 through January 31, 2013.

Background

The Village of Suffern, which is governed by an elected five-member Board of Trustees, is located in Rockland County and has approximately 11,000 residents. The Village’s budgeted appropriations for the 2011-12 fiscal year totaled $17 million.

Key Findings

• The Board lacks an adequate process for preparing, adopting or amending budgets, resulting in unrealistic budgets that caused large deficits in unexpended surplus funds in recent years.
• The Board has not sufficiently monitored financial operations throughout recent fiscal years.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt structurally balanced budgets that are based on reasonable and historical data.
• Monitor operations throughout the year and make necessary adjustments to ensure that deficits do not occur and implement a plan to reduce current unexpended fund deficits.