Audit Objective
Determine whether the Village of Lake George (Village) Treasurer maintained complete, accurate and timely records and reports to allow the Village Board (Board) to effectively manage the Village’s financial operations.
Key Findings
The Treasurer and former Board-appointed Secretary to the Mayor (Secretary) did not properly fulfill their responsibilities of maintaining complete, accurate and timely records, and the Board did not provide adequate oversight of the maintenance of the accounting records. As a result, the Village’s financial condition was not properly reported in the Annual Financial Report (AFR). Without reliable accounting records and reports, the Village’s fiscal health cannot be measured, and the Board’s ability to manage the Village’s financial operations was limited.
- Of the 15 journal entries reviewed, three were not properly recorded, 10 were not recorded timely and no one independently reviewed entries.
- The Treasurer did not always complete bank reconciliations and half of the reconciliations prepared were not supported. Adjusted bank balances did not agree with general ledger cash balances for 19 of the 28 bank reconciliations we prepared.
- The Board did not receive adequate monthly financial reports, annually audit the Treasurer’s records per Village Law, Section 4-408 or ensure the accuracy of the AFR filed with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).
Key Recommendations
The audit report includes 10 recommendations to help maintain proper accounting records and reports.
Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated, or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.