Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to determine if Village officials provided adequate oversight of the Village’s financial operations for the period August 1, 2013 through September 3, 2014.

Background

The Village of Owego is located in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, and has a population of approximately 3,900. The Village is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Trustees. Budgeted appropriations for the 2014-15 fiscal year total approximately $3.3 million.

Key Findings

• The Clerk-Treasurer uses one disbursement account for all funds except payroll and did not perform bank reconciliations in a timely manner.
• The Village has not filed its annual update document with OSC within the required timeframe.
• The Clerk-Treasurer did not segregate duties of staff that perform financial activities.
• The Justices and the Board did not ensure that parking tickets were collected, recorded and deposited in an accurate manner, and unpaid tickets issued during out audit period remained outstanding for an average of 181 days.

Key Recommendations

• Maintain separate accounting records and disbursement accounts for each fund and reconcile all cash balances in the accounting records to bank balances monthly.
• Ensure that the annual update document is filed with OSC within the required timeframe.
• Segregate duties and responsibilities or provide for increased oversight.
• Account for all parking tickets and implement policies and procedures for the collection and enforcement of unpaid parking tickets.