YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. —The town of Yorktown is in good fiscal shape, a recently completed independent audit said.
The audit, which was begun earlier this year, by Alan Kassay, a partner with the PFK O’Connor Davies accounting, gave the town an “unmodified (clean) opinion” for 2024.
“The objective of the audit was to obtain reasonable assurance about whether [town] financial statements are free of material misstatement,” Kassay said during a PowerPoint presentation at the Town Board’s July 15 meeting. “As a result, we issued our opinion—it’s the best opinion you could receive.”
Kassay stated that the audit approach was directed at the evaluation of all significant aspects of the town’s operations to reduce audit risks to an acceptable level.
The town’s financial highlights as listed in the report show that assets and deferred outflows of resources exceeded liabilities and deferred inflows of resources by $69.6 million on the government-wide financial statements. At the close of the fiscal year, the town’s government funds reported a combined ending fund balance of $56.2 million, an increase of $3.5 million from the previous fiscal year. The general fund’s unassigned fund balance was $24.4 million, up about $305,000 from last year. Additionally, no new long-term debt was issued in 2024.
Kassay thanked Town Comptroller Gennelle MacNeil and the finance department for “being as prepared as they were,” and said it makes “our job a lot easier.”
He added that the “audit went very well” and that Yorktown is “in good shape.”
Supervisor Ed Lachterman thanked Kassay and his company and praised MacNeil and Deputy Comptroller David Wong. He expressed appreciation for the recognition of town staff and said the feeling was mutual with the auditors they worked with.
Pride and happiness over the report were shared among the board members.
“I'm happy with what I heard,” Councilman Sergio Esposito said. “It's nothing short of the best efforts of this Town Board and our staff and our leadership throughout the town.”
Councilman Patrick Murphy credited town employees, and Esposito agreed they are “working hard.”
“You can see Yorktown flourishing,” Esposito said, flashing an animated smile to the audience.
Lachterman agreed and said he was “pretty happy too.”
But during courtesy of the floor—a period when members of the public have three minutes to speak on any topic—some criticized the board and described its frequent disagreements as “dysfunctional.” Esposito, after closing that portion of the meeting, responded, “We just announced that the town is in great fiscal shape—not one person had the decency or the courtesy to say, ‘You guys are doing a good job, thank you very much.’”
“It would have been nice to hear that too,” he said.
The reporter on this story can be reached at ferrante@halstonmedia.com.
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