ALBANY – A state audit of the Town of Kent’s procurement and information technology found issues with both.
The study by the state comptroller’s office for the period from January 1, 2016 through January 25, 2017, found the town did not seek competition to procure goods and services totaling some $268,000 and did not have a current contract with the IT consultant.
The audit also found several game programs had been downloaded onto town computers and officials identified “questionable Internet use by town employees including visiting websites for online banking and investment, shopping, travel, sports, social networking and entertainment.
The report also said town officials did not develop a disaster recovery plan.
Key recommendations said the town should use a request for proposals process to select professional services and ensure proper documents are maintained for future needs and enter into written contracts that “clearly stipulate” the services to be performed and the compensation for those services for all current and future professional service providers.
The auditors said the town should develop procedures and controls such as a filter that restricts software installation and access to websites and the town should adopt a comprehensive disaster recovery plan for the protection of equipment and private essential data against damage, loss or destruction.
