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Home My WebLink About2024 CPF 1 � ,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,r. ......... ......... ,,,,,,,,r. ......... ......... ,,,,,,,,r. ........> TR0 Town of Southold w 'ilii iiii�1 iiii1 LI c VIII VIII IIID ilio iiiuu 202111411, Report Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Community Preservation Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What Procedures Should the Town Have for CPF Collections and Disbursements? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Collections Were Properly Supported, Recorded and Deposited . . . 2 Disbursements Were Proper and Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Appendix A— Response From Town Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Appendix B —Audit Methodology and Standards . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Appendix C — Resources and Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 �� U| ~ �� N ~ ��l �� N�� NNN�� Ul�� ~ �� Audit Objective~��~=N~ ~==��=Nve Audit Period "��N= Determine whether Town of Southold (Town) officials properly administered the Paomnic Bay Community January 1' 2021 — December 31, 2022 Preservation Fund (CPF) Unensure that all collections were properly supported, r8COnd8d and deposited and Background m� ' °��"°�� that dioburaernentaxvereproper and auppo�ed. °= The Town is located in Suffolk County Key Findings and theVi||ogeof<3reenpo� — and nine hamlets. Town officials ensured the CPFcollections vve examined were properly supported, recorded. and The Town is governed by six-member deposited in full and that disbursements were proper Town Board (Board).(BmonJ). TheTovvn and supported. Town officials also ensured the debt Supervisor (Suparvioor) iathe presiding service payments we reviewed were for legitimate Board member and serves osthe chief CPF purposes and properly allocated. Specifically: fiscal officer. re, [)fthe 1O3deposits totaling $28million made to The Land Preservation Executive the CPFbank account during the audit period, Assistant (CPFCoordinator) ia we reviewed 10deposits totaling $14.5 million. responsible for the administration of All 10 deposits we reviewed were properly the Town's CPF program and relies on naoeipted, deposited dnne|y and intaot, and the Town Accounting Department for accounted for. depositing and recording CPFrevenues � Of the 111 disbursements totaling $18.1 million and making CPF payments. paid during the audit period, we reviewed 11 1111 disbursements totaling $11.7million. All 11 usv,December a1 uouo disbursements were adequately supported and ' 'farmland, �anpvnspacv approved prior to payment. Tb ' parks and historic sites 2.708 acres � VV8reviewed all 12debt service payments preserved mdate totaling $4.2 million rn8d8 during the audit period. Total Cash onHand $26.9 million All 12 were properly allocated and represented a 2021'2022 |8QiUnl@te liability iDCu[PSd by the CPF. Collections $28 million oiouumomonto $16.1 minion �� Recommendations �. "�� ~Nons There were no recommendations on o result of this audit. Office of the New York State Comptroller 1 �� . �� K U�U�y ro��o�� U�� K U� ��nnnnn �� n � �� n ��m � ��n�� - �� The Peconic Bay CPF, created in 1998 by legislation within Town Law Section 64-e (Town Law), authorized the Town to establish such afund by local |avv Town Law has been amended by subsequent legislation to provide additional guidance on the administration of the CPF within the Town. The CPF'o overall gmo| is to preserve open land and farmland in the Town, a goal which includes purchasing open space and environmentally sensitive lands. |tisfinanced by 2 percent real estate transfer tax, administration of which is governed by Tax Law Section 31-d. The Board, together with the Supervisor and CPF Coordinator, is responsible for overseeing the CPF's financial activities and safeguarding its resources. What Procedures Should the Town Have for CPF Collections and Disbursements? It is essential that Town officials establish procedures to ensure collections are properly supported, accounted for, and deposited in full and disbursements are authorized, supported, and for proper purposes. Procedures should include: re, Ensuring that all assessed real estate transfer taxes are remitted, � Issuing duplicate press-numbered receipts when there is no other supporting documentation ofcollections, � Reconciling money collected with deposits, � Ensuring collections are deposited intact (i.e., in the same amount and form [m.g., cooh, check] as received) and within 10 days <oe required by Town Law Section 29), � Segregating key duties toensure that one employee does not perform all phases ofatransaction, so Limiting the authorization to initiate claims tospecific employees, � Ensuring claims are supported and authorized prior tobeing paid, � Maintaining documentation for all disbursements, and � Ensuring that transactions are properly recorded, and accounting records are up-to-date, comp|ete, and accurate. Collections Were Properly Supported, Recorded and Deposited An Account Clerk Typist in the Town Accounting Department receives all real estate transfer tax checks that finance the Town CPF and deposits all checks. Another Account Clerk Typist enters the journal entry for the deposit inthe Town's financial system for the Town Comptroller toreview and post the deposit. We reviewed 10 CPF bank account deposits totaling $14.5 million of the 103 deposits totaling $28 million made during the audit period to determine whether 2 Office of the Now York State Comptroller they were properly receipted, deposited timely and intact and accurately recorded. We found all 10 deposits were properly receipted, deposited timely and intact, and accounted for. Disbursements Were Proper and Supported Land Purchases —After the closing of a Board-approved CPF land purchase, the CPF Coordinator submits a signed payment voucher and a copy of the Board meeting documenting the approval to the Accounting Department. An Account Clerk Typist then enters the vendor invoice into the Town's financial system for the Town Comptroller or Deputy Town Comptroller to review, initial and post in the Town's financial system. The Account Clerk Typist cuts the Town check for the CPF property purchase; checks over$10,000 receive an additional handwritten signature from the Supervisor or Deputy Supervisor. The Town check for a property purchase is then included in the next warrant batch for Board review and approval. Ordinary Purchases— For ordinary purchases (e.g., office supplies), the CPF Coordinator signs and submits a purchase order to the Accounting Department. After both the Town Comptroller and Supervisor review and sign the purchase order, a copy of the signed purchase order is sent back to the CPF Coordinator. When the goods/services are received, the CPF Coordinator signs and submits a voucher payment form with vendor invoice to the Accounting Department. An Account Clerk Typist enters the vendor invoice in the Town's financial system for the Town Comptroller or Deputy Town Comptroller to review, initial and post in the Town's financial system for inclusion in the next batch warrant for Board review and approval. An Account Clerk Typist cuts the vendor check and mails it out the day following Board approval. Debt Service Payments—The Town makes bond principal and interest payments in February of each year, and bond interest payments in August of each year. We reviewed 11 disbursements totaling $11.7 million (of the 123 disbursements totaling $20.3 million paid during the audit period) to determine whether the purchases were for legitimate CPF purposes, properly approved before payment and supported by adequate documentation, such as itemized invoices or receipts. The purchases were for legitimate CPF purposes, adequately supported and approved prior to payment. We also reviewed all 12 debt service payments totaling $4.2 million paid during the audit period to determine whether the payments were properly allocated to the CPF and represented a legitimate liability incurred by the CPF. We found the debt service payments were for legitimate CPF purposes, properly allocated to the CPF, adequately supported, and approved prior to payment. Office of the New York State Comptroller m, Conclusion Town officials have established adequate procedures for CPF collections and disbursements and ensured that the CPF collections we examined were properly supported, recorded, and deposited in full. Town officials also ensured that the CPF disbursements we examined were proper and supported. 4 Office of the New York State Comptroller �p�p e Ir a x A �R e s o s e I �ro�m 'T w r-i 0 ff c i a s Town Hall,53095 Route 25 Al 1i& J.KRUPSKI,JR, P.O.Rox 1179 ae SUPERVISOR Southold,New York 11971-©959 Fax(631)765-1823 Telephone(631)"765-1889 OFFICE OF THE SUPERVISOR TO)NN OF SOUTHOLD January 3,2024 Ira McCracken,Chief of Municipal Audits office of the New York State Comptroller Division of Local Government&School Accountability 110 State Street,12th Floor Albany,NY 12236 Unit Name:Town of Southold Audit Report Title:Peconic Bay Community Preservation Funds Audit Report Number:137-23-24 Re:Town of Southold CPF Audit,Period 12/1/2021-12/31/2022 To Whom,it May Concern, In response to your mailing dated December 5,2023,concerning the preliminary draft findings of your recent audit of the Town of Southold,Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund,Report of Examination P7-23-24,we confirm that we have received and reviewed the report, and offer no additional comments as there were no recommendations as a result of the audit. Please feel free to contact my office should you require any additional information. Sincerely, Albert J, Krupski,Jr. Southold Town Supervisor Office of the Now York State Comptroller � ��^ �� ^� � � �� =� U �� U� ~ � K �� K� �� U�U �� U �� U � �� U � ��n n n�� . � , � �� , n �, n �� We conducted this audit pursuant toArticle\( Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller's authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Lovv We obtained an understanding of internal controls that we deemed significant within the context of the audit objective and assessed those controls. Information related to the scope ofour work on internal contro|a, as well as the work performed in our audit procedures to achieve the audit objective and obtain valid audit evidence, our audit procedures included the following: • We interviewed Town officials and employees to gain an understanding of the procedures over collecting and recording revenues and disbursing funds for the Town's CPF • VVaused our professional judgment to select asample of10bank deposits totaling $14.5million and verified the deposit amounts from the bank statements to the CPF general ledger to ensure they were properly recorded. � We used our professional judgment to select a sample of 11 disbursements totaling $11.7 million todetermine whether they were legitimate expenditures related to land acquisition, water quality improvement or management and stewardship costs. � VVeobtained and reviewed Town CPFdebt service schedules, bond closing statements and other supporting documentation toverify all 12 debt service payments totaling $4.2 million paid during the audit period todetermine whether the payments were for legitimate CPFpurposes and were properly recorded and approved. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit toobtain sufficient, appropriate evidence toprovide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objective. VVebelieve that the evidence obtained provides areasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based onour audit objective. Unless otherwise indicated in this report, samples for testing were selected based onprofessional judgment, asitwas not the intent to project the results onto the entire population. Where applicable, information is presented concerning the value and/or size ofthe relevant population and the sample selected for examination. The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action.A written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report should be prepared and provided to our office within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of General Municipal Law. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer toour brochure, Responding hoan (JSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. We encourage the Board to make the CAP available for public review inthe Town Clerk's office. f", Office of the Now York State Comptroller �p�p e Ir��dx C �' esoi.,irces a, d ServIIces Regional Office Directory wvvw.osc.ny.gov/fives/VocaV-governmenUpdf/regionaV-directory.pdf Cost-Saving Ideas— Resources, advice and assistance on cost-saving ideas www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/pubVications Fiscal Stress Monitoring — Resources for local government officials experiencing fiscal problems www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/fiscaV-monitoring Local Government Management Guides— Series of publications that include technical information and suggested practices for local government management www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/pubVications Planning and Budgeting Guides— Resources for developing multiyear financial, capital, strategic and other plans www.osc.ny.gov/iocaV-government/resources/planning-resources Protecting Sensitive Data and Other Local Government Assets—A non-technical cybersecurity guide for local government leaders www.osc.ny.gov/fives/VocaV-government/pubVications/pdf/cyber-security-guide.pdf Required Reporting — Information and resources for reports and forms that are filed with the Office of the State Comptroller www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/required-reporting Research Reports/Publications— Reports on major policy issues facing local governments and State policy-makers vvww.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/pubVications Training— Resources for local government officials on in-person and online training opportunities on a wide range of topics www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government/academy Office of the Now York State Comptroller 7 Contact Office of the New York State Comptroller Division of Local Government and School Accountability 110 State Street, 12th Floor, Albany, New York 12236 Tel: (518) 474-4037 • Fax: (518) 486-6479 • Email: localgov@osc.ny.gov https://www.osc.ny.gov/VocaV-government Local Government and School Accountability Help Line: (866) 321-8503 HAUPPAUGE REGIONAL OFFICE— Ira McCracken, Chief of Municipal Audits NYS Office Building, Room 3A10 • 250 Veterans Memorial Highway • Hauppauge, New York 11788-5533 Tel (631) 952-6534 • Fax (631) 952-6091 • Email: Muni-Hauppauge@osc.ny.gov Serving: Nassau, Suffolk counties 1 11 \ O