Audit Objective

Determine whether the Village of Stamford (Village) Board of Trustees (Board) effectively audited claims prior to payment.

Key Findings

The Board did not effectively audit claims prior to payment. As a result, disbursements were made for unsupported and/or improper claims and were not in the taxpayers’ best interest.

During the audit period, the Board approved 890 claims totaling $8.2 million. Of the 200 claims totaling $1 million we examined:

• 78 claims totaling $195,545 did not have support that the purchases complied with competitive bidding requirements or the Village’s procurement policy.
• Five claims totaling $1,334 included food and alcohol purchases.
• One claim totaling $700 did not have an itemized receipt and did not follow procurement guidelines.
• Six claims totaling $637 did not have appropriate support, such as an itemized receipt or invoice.
• 17 claims had sales tax totaling $129.

Furthermore, all 11 credit card claims totaling $62,404 were improperly paid before Board audit.

Key Recommendations

• Perform a thorough and deliberate audit of claims.
• Ensure that Village personnel involved in the procurement process are aware of, and comply with, statutory bidding requirements and the Village’s procurement policy.

Village officials generally agreed with our findings and indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.