Audit Objective 

Determine whether the Village of Argyle (Village) Board (Board) provided adequate oversight of water billings and collections.

Key Findings 

Officials did not provide adequate oversight of water billings and collections. As a result, delinquent accounts were not enforced, and the Village lost revenue.

• The Clerk-Treasurer did not maintain adequate water billing and collection accounting records.
• The Clerk-Treasurer did not properly assess $4,330 in penalties on unpaid customer accounts.
• The Board did not formally adopt the water billing rates charged to customers.
• The Board did not enforce 39 unpaid customer accounts with unpaid balances totaling $14,458 for water bills from the September 2022 and March 2023 billings.

Key Recommendations 

• Maintain adequate accounting records.
• Ensure penalties are properly assessed on unpaid customer accounts.
• Ensure water billing rates are formally adopted by the Board.
• Periodically review outstanding unpaid water accounts for enforcement action.

Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.