[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Village of North Syracuse (Village) Board of Trustees (Board):

• Conducted an annual audit of the Village Chief Fiscal Officer’s (CFO) financial records and reports,
• Filed the required Annual Financial Report (AFR) with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), and
• Reported the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public in a transparent manner.

Key Findings

The Board did not:

• Conduct an annual audit, or cause to be audited, the CFO’s 2022-23 financial records and reports, as required by New York State Village Law (Village Law) Section 4-408,
• Ensure the AFR was prepared and filed with OSC, as required by New York State General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30, or l Report the results of the Village’s fiscal activities to the public, as required by GML Section 30 and Village Law Section 4-408.

Although our review did not identify any significant fiscal concerns with the Village’s general fund for the year 2022-23, the Board’s ineffective oversight resulted in a lack of transparency with the public regarding the Village’s fiscal activities.

Recommendations

The audit report includes six recommendations to help the Board and CFO improve the transparency of their fiscal activities. Village officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they have taken or will take corrective action.