Village officials did not properly approve, document or control overtime for employees. During our audit period, the Village paid eight employees a total of $149,964 in overtime that was not properly approved or supported by the employees' timecards.

District officials did not properly claim State aid for special education students who received services in summer placements. As a result, as of June 30, 2023, the District had not claimed $55,771 in State aid to which it was entitled, of which $52,640 would have already been received and benefited the District if claimed in a timely manner. The District also claimed $8,569 in aid to which it was not entitled.

he Justices and Board did not provide adequate oversight of Court financial activities. As a result, the former court clerk was able to misappropriate more than $59,000, or 38 percent of the fines, fees and surcharges collected between January 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021. In August 2023, the former court clerk pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree, corrupting the government in the second degree, tampering with records in the first degree and official misconduct. In October 2023, the former court clerk was sentenced to serve six months in jail and pay more than $59,000 in restitution.

The Village is located in Orange County. Chapter 206 of the Laws of 2023 (the “Village of Washingtonville Deficit Financing Act”) authorizes the Village, subject to the provisions of Local Finance Law (LFL) Section10.10, to issue debt not to exceed $4.5 million to liquidate the accumulated (actual) deficits in the general fund, water fund, sewer fund and capital projects fund as of May 31, 2023, including the remaining principal amount of any budget, deficiency and/or revenue anticipation notes outstanding at the time the deficit bonds or notes are issued. During the time that LFL Section 10.10 is in effect, the Village's tentative annual budgets must be submitted to the Office of the New York State Comptroller for examination and recommendations.

District officials did not adequately secure the District's network user accounts, establish physical controls, maintain complete and accurate inventory records for IT equipment or develop an IT contingency plan.

The Board and District officials were not transparent with taxpayers and did not effectively manage fund balance and reserves.

The Board of Education (Board) and District officials did not always procure goods and services in a competitive manner. Officials did not update the procurement policy or ensure that employees followed New York State General Municipal Law (GML) when procuring goods and services. As a result, goods and services were purchased without the benefit of competition, resulting in the increased risk that taxpayer dollars were not expended in the most prudent and economical manner.

District officials did not adequately manage and monitor fuel access and usage or account for fuel inventory. As a result, seven enabled fuel user accounts were not needed and authorized transportation department employees completed 117 usage transactions during our test period by sharing Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and/or vehicle fobs to fuel buses. This reduces accountability and increases the risk that fuel could be stolen or misused without detection.

District officials developed a comprehensive investment program but did not effectively manage the program. During the 17-month audit period, the District earned $539 from money on deposit in the District's checking and money market accounts, which had average available funds for investing of $845,365. Had officials considered other legally permissible investment options, the District may have earned an additional $38,700 more than earned.

The Board did not ensure that financial reports it received were timely, accurate, and contained the necessary information it needed to properly monitor the District's financial condition and fund balance. If the Board does not adequately control expenditures and monitor and rebuild the District's fund balance, there is a risk that the District may not have sufficient financial resources available to address unexpected occurrences or meet its cash flow needs.

The Board did not provide adequate oversight of the District's financial operations. As a result, the Board hindered their ability to make informed financial decisions and levied taxes that were more than necessary to fund operations.

The purpose of our review was to determine whether County officials have established appropriate controls to safeguard and account for court and trust funds for the period January 1, 2021 through October 12, 2023.

BOCES officials did not develop and manage a comprehensive investment program. During the 12-month audit period, BOCES held $7.4 million in money market accounts and earned interest totaling $105,000, and held $4.6 million in non-interest bearing accounts. Had officials considered other available investment options, BOCES may have earned $448,000 in investment income, or $343,000 more than the $105,000 earned during our audit period.

District officials did not properly claim State aid for special education students who received services in 10-month public and summer placements. As a result, as of April 30, 2023, the District will not benefit from $28,832 in State aid that was not claimed and had not claimed an additional $224,976 in aid, of which $195,844 would have already been received if claimed in a timely manner. Officials also claimed and received $57,650 in aid to which the District was not entitled.

The North Chautauqua County Water District's (District's) Board (Board), County Legislature (Legislature) and other County officials did not adopt realistic budgets, routinely monitor the District's financial operations or take appropriate actions to maintain the District's fiscal stability. As such, all County taxpayers have been funding District operations instead of just the real property owners who benefited from the District's services.

The Town was not reimbursed equitably for shared service costs related to the intermunicipal agreement (IMA) and the operating group Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Water Works (CBI). In addition, the Board did not convey land to Chautauqua County (County) in a transparent and equitable manner.

District officials did not develop and manage a comprehensive investment program. During the 22-month audit period, the District had an average of $12.4 million in operating and debt service funds available for investing, and earned $154,099 in investment earnings. Had officials utilized their investment accounts more effectively, the District may have earned $356,452, or $202,353 more than the $154,099 of investment earnings during our audit period.

Claims and payroll-related disbursements were not always adequately supported, properly approved or for Town purposes.

District officials did not properly bill and collect tuition for nonresident foster care students enrolled at the District. As of March 27, 2023, the District had not collected $59,336 of tuition billed and did not bill $4,345 for tuition due. As a result, the District had not been paid $63,681 of the $107,167 (59 percent) in tuition owed to the District during the 2019-20 through 2021-22 school years.

The Board did not provide adequate oversight over financial operations and capital projects. As a result, the Board did not have sufficient information to oversee financial operations and capital projects. The Board was unaware of the Village's financial position and that financial records were disorderly and incomplete.