Audit Objective 

Determine whether Village of Skaneateles (Village) claims were adequately supported, appropriate and properly audited and approved prior to payment.

Key Findings 

While the claims we reviewed were for appropriate Village expenditures, the Village Board (Board) did not audit all claims before payment. Additionally, some claims were not adequately supported or were paid without approval.

Of the 348 claims we reviewed totaling approximately $2 million, 206 claims totaling about $1.3 million had one or more exceptions.

• The Board did not audit 93 claims totaling approximately $618,000.
• Seven claims totaling approximately $356,000 were not competitively procured, as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 103 and the Village’s procurement policy.
• 36 claims totaling approximately $171,000 were approved by department heads after the claims were paid and five paid claims ($6,800) were not approved by department heads.
• 23 claims totaling approximately $112,000 lacked adequate supporting documentation (i.e., original, itemized invoices and/or receipts).

When claims are not properly audited, paid without approval, or not properly supported to meet the competitive procurement requirements, it increases the risk that improper or inaccurate payments could be made and goods or services may not be procured in the taxpayers’ best interest.

Recommendations 

The audit report includes five recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Village’s claims auditing practices.

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