The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2018 Justice Court RECEIVE UP 2 5 2619 CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS Southold Town Clerk October 10, 2019 Honorable Supervisor and Town Board Town of Southold Southold, New York In planning and performing our audit of the combining schedule of cash collections and disbursements for the Town of Southold, Justice Court for the year ended December 31, 2018, we considered the Town of Southold, Justice Court's internal control over financial reporting (internal control) as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Town of Southold, Justice Court's internal control. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Town of Southold, Justice Court's internal control. A control deficiency exists when the design or operation of a_control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned function, to prevent, or detect and correct misstatements on a timely basis. During the audit, we became aware of several control deficiencies that are opportunities for strengthening internal controls and operating efficiency. The memorandum that accompanies this letter summarizes our comments and suggestions regarding these matters. This letter does not affect our report dated October 10, 2019 on the financial statement of the Town of Southold, Justice Court. This communication is intended solely for the information and use of management, the Town Board, and others within the organization, and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. We will review the status of these comments during our next engagement. We have already discussed many of these comments and suggestions with various Town of Southold personnel, and we will be pleased to discuss them in further detail at your convenience, perform any additional study of these matters, or assist you in Implementing the recommendations. Very truly yours, Z4 rwo Albrecht, Viggiano, Zureck & Company, P.C. BEYOND THE NUMBERS... -� ALBRECHT,VIGGIANO,ZURECK&COMPANY, PC. 245 PARK AVENUE,39TH FLOOR 25 SUFFOLK COURT NEW YORK, NY 10167 HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-3715 T:212.792.4075 T. 631.434.9500 F.631.434.9518 www avz.com INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF BKR INTERNATIONAL Town of Southold October 10, 2019 Page 2 Pre-Numbered Receipts Sequencing- Software During previous audits, we noted certain receipts were not in sequence due to data entry errors or the due to the computer system "timing out". It was noted that if the relevant information on a receipt is not entered within a certain time frame, the receipt will vanish, and it cannot be traced back in the system. We recommend the software company produce a report where these unaccounted receipts are identified so that the Justice Court can properly account for these receipts in the missing sequence. The Justice Court has contacted the software company and they do not have an explanation or solution to this issue, however, the Justice Court does have a system of tracking and accounting for these receipts manually. Documentation of Bank Reconciliation Review During our audit, it was noted that although the Justice Court Director reviews the bank reconciliations performed by the Justice Court Clerks, they are not initialed before given to the Town Justices. We recommend that the Justice Court Director initials the bank reconciliations once they are reviewed in order to document that the review was performed prior to providing them for review to the Town Justices. RECEIVE® N 0V 2 5 2019 Southold Town Clerk TOWN OF SOUTHOLD JUSTICE COURT COMBINING SCHEDULE OF CASH COLLECTIONS AND DISBURSEMENTS Year Ended December 31, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. Independent Auditors' Report................................................................................. 1-2 Combining Schedule of Cash Collections and Disbursements............................... 3 Noteto the Schedule .............................................................................................. 4 0 r"1 CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT Honorable Supervisor and Town Board Town of Southold Southold, New York We have audited the accompanying combining schedule of cash collections and disbursements of the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court, for the year ended December 31, 2018, and the related note to the schedule. Management's Responsibility for the Schedule Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of this schedule in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of a schedule that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditors' Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the schedule based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the schedule is free of material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the schedule. The procedures selected depend on the auditors' judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the schedule, whether due Iw. to fraud or-error. In making those risk assessments, the auditors consider internal control relevant to the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court's preparation and fair presentation of the schedule in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court's internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of the significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the schedule. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion. BEYOND THE NUMBERS... �— ALBRECHT,VIGGIANO,ZURECK&COMPANY, P.C. 245 PARK AVENUE,39TH FLOOR 25 SUFFOLK COURT NEW YORK, NY 10167 HAUPPAUGE, NY 11788-3715 T•212.792 4075 T:631.434.9500 F:631.434 9518 www.avz com INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF BKR INTERNATIONAL - 2 - Opinion In our opinion, the schedule referred to above presents fairly, in all material respects, the cash �1 collections and disbursements of the Justice Court of the Town of Southold, New York for the year ended December 31, 2018 in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Emphasis of Matter As described in Note A.2, the schedule of the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court is intended to present only the cash collections and disbursements of the Justice Court of the Town of Southold, New York. Restriction of Use This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Town of Southold's Town Board, the New York Office of Courts Administration, and management and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. Hauppauge, New York October 10, 2019 - 3 - TOWN OF SOUTHOLD JUSTICE COURT COMBINING SCHEDULE OF CASH COLLECTIONS AND DISBURSEMENTS Year Ended December 31, 2018 Town Justices Eileen A. Brian J. William H. Louisa P. Bail Powers Hughes Price, Jr. Evans Account Combined Cash Balances at the Beginning of Year(unaudited) $ -0- $ 27,928 $ 7,361 $ 140 $ 138,182 $ 173,611 Add: Collection of Fines, Penalties, Forfeitures, and Fees 232,457 481,732 635 714,824 Other: Bail Collected 181,570 181,570 Less: Disbursements to Town of Southold (216,465) (484,335) (7,361) (775) (708,936) Return of Bail and Other (174,464) (174,464) Cash Balances at the End of the Year(unaudited) $ 15,992 $ 25,325 $ -0- $ -0- $ 145,288 $ 186,605 See note to the schedule. - 4 - TOWN OF SOUTHOLD JUSTICE COURT NOTE TO THE SCHEDULE December 31, 2018 A. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES 1. Reporting Entity The Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court is a special fund established by the Office of the New York State Comptroller pursuant to Section 99-a of the State Finance Law. The purpose of Section 99-a is to provide centralized accounting for the fines, penalties, forfeitures and fees collected by all Justice Courts in New York State, including the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court. All Justice Courts in New York State are administered by the Division of Local Government and School Accountability, Justice Court Fund, within the Office of the State Comptroller. The cash balances and related liabilities of the individual Town of Southold Justices, as well as the bail are reported in the Town of Southold's Agency Fund. 2. Basis of Presentation The schedule was prepared to present the cash collections and disbursements of the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court. Under this presentation, fines, penalties, forfeitures, fees and bail collections are considered to be increases to the related cash balances; and disbursements to other governments, the return of bail, and forfeited bail, are considered decreases in the related cash balances. The operating expenditures for the Town of Southold, New York, Justice Court are accounted for in the General Fund of the Town of Southold, New York. 3. Cash Balances The cash balances of the Town of Southold, New York, Justices at December 31, 2018 represent fines, penalties, forfeitures, and other items collected during December 2018 that have not yet been remitted to New York State and the Town of Southold, New York. The bail account cash balance at December 31, 2018 represents the bail deposits collected through year end that have not yet been returned, or applied towards fines, penalties, forfeitures or fees. The Town of Southold's Justice Court investment policy is governed by State statutes and the Town of Southold's investment policy. Collateral is required for demand and time deposits not covered by federal deposit insurance. 4. Disbursements to Town of Southold. New York Chapter 465, Laws of 1998 permits the Justice Court of the Town of Southold, New York, to transmit monthly collections directly to the Town of Southold without first sending them to the Office of the New York State Comptroller for distribution. The Town of Southold will then remit any amounts owed to New York State.