NY State Will Audit Our Town

Shortly after taking office, Councilman Gene Cook expressed the need for a state audit of the town’s books.  Frank Petrone, Mark Cuthbertson and a few others tried to resist the audit but they eventually did begrudgingly support a resolution after a rally in front of town hall and pressure by residents.  Apparently the state of NY believes there is a need for an audit of the town and they have informed Frank Petrone of their intentions.  Below is a copy of the letter that was sent to Supervisor Frank Petrone and members of the Town Council from the Office of the State Comptroller.

Below please find the text of the letter and Attachment A

 

STATE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER

110 STATE STREET

THOMAS P. DiNAPOLI

COMPTROLLER

Tel: (518)474-4037 Fax (518)486-6479

ALBANY. NEW YORK 12236

STEVEN J, HANCOX

DEPUTY COMPTROLLER

DIVISION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

AND SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY

Hon. Frank P, Petrone, Town Supervisor

Members of the Town Council

May 25, 2012 Town of Huntington

100 Main Street

Huntington, NY 11743

 

Dear Supervisor Petrone and Members of the Town Council:

The Division of Local Government and School Accountability of the Office of the State Comptroller has selected the Town of Huntington for an audit. The audit will focus 011 policies and procedures related to internal controls at the Town.

We plan to begin audit fieldwork in the near future, We will contact you shortly to schedule an entrance conference and to identify those officials and staff who should attend this meeting, At the entrance conference, Town officials will be able to ask questions about this audit and about the resources the examiners will need, Once the audit is underway, our audit staff will be available to meet with any Town officials, including individual members of the Town Council, at any time during audit fieldwork.

Attachment A lists some of the records and information we expect to review during the audit. We appreciate your cooperation in providing us with as much of this information as possible at the entrance conference, In addition, before the entrance conference and in advance of the audit, we will require certain electronic information from your financial accounting system as outlined in Attachment B, During the Course of the audit, we may need to request other information as well. We recognize that an audit places additional demands on you and your staff, and we will do our best to minimize disruption to your day-to-day operations. Our publication, Understanding the Audit Process, which explains how we conduct our audits, is available at http://www.osc.state.ny.us!localgov/audits/theaudit.htm.

At the conclusion of our audit, we will report on the audit’s results and provide recommendations to help improve your Town’s operations, As a key Town official, you will have a role in monitoring any corrective actions that need to be taken as a result of this audit. Therefore, please feel free to ask questions about the audit at the entrance conference and about the audit’s progress at any time during the audit engagement. If I can answer any questions you have at this time, please contact me at 631-952-6534,

 Sincerely

Ann Nussbaum, Principal Examiner

Division of Local Government and

School Accountability

cc: Jo-Ann Raia, Town Clerk

Tracy Yogman, Director/Comptroller

RECEIVED AT TOWN HALL BY TOWN CLERK MAY25TH 2012

Attachment A:

Initial Request for Records and Information

Minutes

Annual Financial Reports

Budgets

Record Policies and Other Documents:

• Cash Receipts Journals
• Cash Disbursement’ Journals
• General Journals
• General Ledgers
• Revenue Ledgers
• Appropriation Ledgers
• Inventory Records for Gas, Fuel & Other Commodities
• Property and Equipment Inventory Records
• Bank Statements
• Canceled Checks
• Copies of Deposit Slips
• Bank Reconciliations
• Investment Policy
• Security and Custodial Agreements
• Confirmation of Pledged Collateral
• Duplicate Receipt Forms
• Purchasing Policy
• Code of Ethics
• Vendor Listing
• Purchase Requisitions I Orders
•  Paid Vouchers or Claims
• Abstracts, Audits or Warrants
• Bid Specifications or Folders
• Record of all Indebtedness
• Payroll Records
• Employee Time Cards
• Leave Time Records
• IRS Forms and Reports
• State Tax Forms and Reports

NOTE to Readers Attachment B is about file formats of data requested electronically.