ALBANY – The Wawarsing Town Board did not provide proper oversight to the bidding process, capital project management or the claims audit process, an audit of the town’s financial books by the state comptroller’s office found.
The review also discovered that the former senior account clerk paid a vendor, who is a relative, a double payment of $86,154.
The audit noted that on December 22, 2014, a payment was made in the amount of $86,164 ($10 more than on the request); the voucher was signed by the account clerk on January 15, 2015. On January 22, six days after the account clerk signed the first voucher, she prepared and approved another voucher with a different account code for the $86,154 payment request.
When town officials were notified of the double payment by their external auditors, reimbursement was requested of the vendor, who paid it four months after the double payment.
Shortly thereafter, the senior account clerk resigned and took a job with the vendor, to whom she is related.
Also, the former account clerk did not reimburse the town $499 for healthcare coverage, the state officials said.
The auditors said the town should provider stronger oversight including by reviewing and approving proposals, bids, change orders, and vendor requests for payment.
Claims should be audited before payment and reconciliation procedures should be established, the reviewers said.
A June 17, 2019 response to the audit by Town Supervisor Terry Houck said the town board would implement all of the recommendations and is requesting payment of the unpaid healthcare coverage from the former employee.
