Earlville works to correct mistakes found in village audit
EARLVILLE – An audit of the Village of Earlville’s financial operations during a recent 12-month period found incomplete record keeping and a lack of financial reporting and oversight, particularly when collecting water rents.
In particular, it found that a lack of policies and procedures for collecting water rents resulted in only 38 percent of water customers being billed based on the Clerk-Treasurer’s estimates in July 2009. The New York State Office of Comptroller conducted the audit to review the village’s internal controls over selected financial operations for the period of June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010.
“The village had no limit as to the number of times water customers can self-report meter readings,” the report stated.
The audit’s findings were released in late January. The village spent $16,000 on a consulting firm to revise the accounting records and to compile the annual financial reports for the audit. Since then, newly appointed Mayor William Excell said all of the errors have been corrected.
Excell took over from former Mayor Mark Doeberl, who stepped down for personal reasons in late December. Doeberl had been elected to fill a vacancy after his predecessor from 2005 to 2011, Toni Campbell, left office when she was arrested for theft from her employer.
Excell said the audit found no fraudulent activity during Campbell’s term in office.
“The administration and board way back were just doing things that could have been done better,” said Excell. “The way they handled receipts ... they didn’t keep track of anything: vehicles, mileage, cash receipts.”
Clerk Treasurer Kelly Beach, who has been in office for only one year, said all of the records were 90 percent updated and switched over to the required double-entry accounting software. A copy of the audit is available at the village offices.
“Everything they found wrong, we’ve corrected,” she said, adding, “Nobody knew if we were doing anything wrong. It was just the way it was run before.”
Beach said none of the payroll records from 2007 to 2009 could be found in the village office, for example.
The Village of Earlville is located in the town of Sherburne in Chenango County, and the town of Hamilton in Madison County, and serves approximately 800 residents. The 2009-2010 general fund budget of $390,844 was funded primarily by real property taxes, revenues from fire protection contracts and sales tax. The water fund budget of $103,778 was primarily funded by water rents.
In particular, it found that a lack of policies and procedures for collecting water rents resulted in only 38 percent of water customers being billed based on the Clerk-Treasurer’s estimates in July 2009. The New York State Office of Comptroller conducted the audit to review the village’s internal controls over selected financial operations for the period of June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010.
“The village had no limit as to the number of times water customers can self-report meter readings,” the report stated.
The audit’s findings were released in late January. The village spent $16,000 on a consulting firm to revise the accounting records and to compile the annual financial reports for the audit. Since then, newly appointed Mayor William Excell said all of the errors have been corrected.
Excell took over from former Mayor Mark Doeberl, who stepped down for personal reasons in late December. Doeberl had been elected to fill a vacancy after his predecessor from 2005 to 2011, Toni Campbell, left office when she was arrested for theft from her employer.
Excell said the audit found no fraudulent activity during Campbell’s term in office.
“The administration and board way back were just doing things that could have been done better,” said Excell. “The way they handled receipts ... they didn’t keep track of anything: vehicles, mileage, cash receipts.”
Clerk Treasurer Kelly Beach, who has been in office for only one year, said all of the records were 90 percent updated and switched over to the required double-entry accounting software. A copy of the audit is available at the village offices.
“Everything they found wrong, we’ve corrected,” she said, adding, “Nobody knew if we were doing anything wrong. It was just the way it was run before.”
Beach said none of the payroll records from 2007 to 2009 could be found in the village office, for example.
The Village of Earlville is located in the town of Sherburne in Chenango County, and the town of Hamilton in Madison County, and serves approximately 800 residents. The 2009-2010 general fund budget of $390,844 was funded primarily by real property taxes, revenues from fire protection contracts and sales tax. The water fund budget of $103,778 was primarily funded by water rents.
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