Dear Editor,
On Aug. 1, the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC) disclosed on its website a 16-page audit report on Pound Ridge.
The report was on the town’s procurement practices from January 2022 through November 2023 and pointed to lapses related to board policy and statutory requirements. Among its findings were that there was no competition for purchases totaling $745,362 and that there was no audit or proper review on $299,176 in payments, the majority related to town credit cards. In addition, the report found there were no receipts or documentation on 226 credit card purchases totaling $54,359. Town credit cards were issued to 11 department heads in 2020.
The OSC report raises further concerns regarding the town’s fiscal and accounting practices by embellishing some deficiencies noted in previous letters to management by the town’s independent auditor PKF O’Connor Davies (PKFOD). The OSC report did not address significant deficiencies noted in previous PKFOD letters to management, such as a delay in the issuance of an independent audit report, tracking capital projects and co-mingling funds.
In his initial response in a July 15 letter in the report, Supervisor Kevin Hansan stated that “We are pleased that the audit found no misuse, misappropriation or fraudulent use of Town funds…” The OSC annotated that comment with “See Note 1” which said “Therefore, these audit results cannot be used to conclude there is no fraud, theft or professional misconduct in the Town’s operations.”
Everyone should read the OSC audit report as well as the Corrective Action Plan that is required within 90 days of the July 15 letter. The sort of accounting improprieties addressed in the OSC audit report and the PKFOD letters to management are what occur when financial statements are more than three years overdue and nobody seems to care.
-John D. McCown, Pound Ridge
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