The Town has posted:
1. UHY's "Independent Auditor's Report on the Financial Statements of the General fund, Special Revenue Funds, and the Capital Projects Fund"; and
2. NYS State Comptroller's "Town of East Greenbush Ambulance District Operations Report of Examination Period Covered: January 1, 2008 — October 1, 2009".
These reports can be found at (http://www.eastgreenbush.org/downloads/cat_view/43-comptroller):
The critical statement in UHY's "Independent Auditor's Report on the Financial Statements of the General fund, Special Revenue Funds, and the Capital Projects Fund" is the unqualified opinion … the highest level of opinion rendered. This statement is as follows:
"In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above (general fund, special revenue funds, and capital projects fund) present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the general fund, special revenue funds and capital projects fund of the Town of East Greenbush, New York as of December 31, 2009, and the changes in financial position thereof and the respective budgetary comparison for the general fund and special revenue funds for the year then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America."
Both reports identify, for lack of a better term, deficiencies.
The UHY report on the Financial Statements identifies "material weaknesses" that appear to be based on the Town's use of a Microsoft Access Database accounting system, "which lacks access and modification controls and contributes to an increased risk for potential error or misstatement … (and) does not support the Town’s needs and long-term commitment to strong internal control." This could be resolved by the purchase of new accounting software.
The UHY report also identifies (less severe) "significant deficiencies", some of which have already been addressed by the Town. Some other deficiencies will be difficult, but not impossible, to rectify (Segregation of Duties, for instance, due to staffing levels). Stricter adherence to the Town's Purchasing Policy is also recommended.
The OSC audit of the Ambulance District Operations identifies oversight weaknesses between the Town and the District and contracted Rescue Squad finances and Length Of Service Award Program (a retirement credit system for the volunteers). The OSC report contains four recommendations to correct these oversight weaknesses and gives the Town 90 days to prepare and submit a corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations.
Earth shattering? No.
Insurmountable? No.
Forensic Audit? No.
We are confident that the Town Supervisor and the Town Board will address and correct the weaknesses promptly !
The other side is hung up on this audit and have clearly interpreted it 180 degrees differently. It is clear that they have little or no leg to stand on ! The current administration needs to address the descrepencies and press on with the business of the Town. Oh...btw abernathy or who ever you are - I can read quite well and I have NO problem interpretting the opinions of the auditers either !
ReplyDeleteFor starters Linda, the UHY report is not an “unqualified opinion” as asserted by the commentator. Note the next paragraph.
ReplyDelete“As discussed in Note 1, the financial statements present only the general fund, special revenue funds, and capital projects fund and do not purport to, and do not, present fairly the governmentwide financial position of the Town of East Greenbush, New York as of December 31, 2009, and the government-wide changes in its financial position and budgetary comparisons for the year then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”
I’m sure you’ll hear more later, but the scope was very limited as stated in the following paragraphs.
“In planning and performing our audit, we considered the Town of East Greenbush's internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Town of East Greenbush’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Town of East Greenbush’s internal control over financial reporting.
Our consideration of internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose described in the preceding paragraph and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that might be significant deficiencies or material weaknesses and therefore, there can be no assurance that all deficiencies, significant deficiencies, or material weaknesses have been identified. However, as described below, we identified certain deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that we consider to be material weaknesses and other deficiencies that we consider to be significant deficiencies.”
I see from the “hits” on the Town’s website that not a whole lot of people have read the material yet.
So your point is ???? exactly what ??? Your worried over financial reporting ? Internal control over financial reporting - exactly what potential dastardly deed could be hidden there?? Oh - please tell !!
ReplyDelete"we've identified certain deficiencies or weakenesses " not GROSS NEGLIGENCE !!!
Puhleez - your literally making a mountain out of a mole hill here !! As was stated clearly - there is absolutely NO NEED FOR A FORENSIC AUDIT !! Thats pretty much all I needed to hear - Mike and Ann were not vindicated in their pompous assumptions !! Show me the part where they declare that the Town hide thousands of taxpayer dollars , or even where they insinuated that the Town stole money for them selves or where the Town - specifically Rick McCabe or any of the other people that the reform party has slandered the past 8-10 months, did ANYTHING AT ALL ILLEGAL - and could be prosecuted in a court of law !! FIND ME THAT !!! YOU CAN'T !! That is a fact !!!
Easy there Linda your making me look like a boyscout !
ReplyDeleteYa know George , I'm tired of all the reform people who read something and only see what they want to see. They don't look at anything realistically - they see only what they need to see.
ReplyDeleteThey come to Town Board meetings - raise their voices , make loud- pompous declarations and demands - ( Sean Mulvey), basically they make asses out of themselves, and then - after all that , they get on the Ann Taylor love fest blog and primp and preen each other and call everyone who doesn't agree with them all kinds of nasty names and call this blog the BILE BLOG because it makes the few of them feel better about their own slander campaign. Then - theres the one and only Don Johnson - Mr. "Internal Controls " himself.
What is this guy - a gynecologist ?? He makes me sick to my bung-hole- he owes the Town thousands in legal fees - he obviously HATES anyone who supports Mangold and Malone , and he gets indignant with anyone who dares to challenge his ramblings about Town finances.
Who died and left Don Johnson " King of East Greenbush" ? Angry ?? you bet I'm angry . And I'm just getting warmed up too.
BTW - not that it matters - but the East Greenbush PopWarner Pee Wees are headed to their version of the SuperBowl! My nephew plays on that team and I'm very proud of him and his team mates !
8:56 - I pay my taxes and then some and I don't bitch and complain about my town Taxes. My tax bill shows me EVERYTHING I need to see - LIKE the amount we ALL pay to Rensselaer County - ( Thank You Mike Cristo ) . Funny how you reformers fail to acknowledge the REPUBLICAN COUNTY LEGISLATURE raising taxes 5% - ( again THANK YOU MIKE CRISTO ).
ReplyDeleteHey Linda....If you want to say something about what is in a report, try quoting it. Nothing in the UHY report says that a forensic audit is not called for. On the other hand, the need for one is implied in the statements about the fact that the auditors did not test the internal control environment.
ReplyDeleteBut let's talk about the ambulance district audit and the cash hit to EG(B) tax payers. How about the $400K in fees that were supposed to be turned over to the Town? (There's double this year's tax increase in that number.) How about the three vehicles paid for by taxpayers turned over to Bruen (by somebody) for a buck??? How many tax increases is that? How about how many inellegible LOSAP recipients at a cost to whom? Who are we kidding here? Lots of cognitive dissonance on your part I'd say.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteDon't let these clowns get you down as they really aren't worth it. They keep losing and coming back. Apparently they think things will work for them in the end. At this point, I think my dog could beat them (since he has a much better personality). I do agree with you regarding the town board meetings though. I went to my first one last week and HOLY CARP (yes carp). I was shocked by the obnoxious, rude behavior by certian people. I even tried to post on their blog how childish they behaved and they would not post it (SHOCK).
I'm thinking all these new names on this blog are the same person (think we can all guess who). Are we hopping from house to house, library to starbucks, to where ever?? Hope you are having fun. And trust me I am being VERY nice right now!!!!
'DUMB'ledore, I think thats all that needs to be said!
Goodnight folks.......
Go figure - the cult bloggers are on here trying to force their point of view on everyone. I think the title of this thread is great - they can't seem to figure that out - really....the Sky isn't falling !
ReplyDeleteThey are so adament that people buy into their flavor of Kool-Aid and god forbid you don't agree with them !
No, I shan't run for office. I'm tired of politics altogether after this year. I am content to simply be the smartest guy in the room on most occasions. Of course, being self employed, I am pretty much the ONLY guy in the room much of the time, making that accomplishment much easier.
ReplyDeleteFactoid Lloyd--Statesman, Sportsman, Gentleman
I'm a little confused here. The cultblog is pretty insistent that Ann Taylor is God's gift to the financial world. It is my understanding that she has had several employers. There really are only a couple of reasons to keep changing jobs...either you have no people skills or you really aren't that good at your job and the higher ups know it so you "decide" to leave. I personally have had 2 jobs..my teenage job and my adult job. I really don't think the town should have someone like Ann on any committees - she really has no loyalty to the town or she wouldn't have quite so much against it. I don't know about anyone else, but before I moved here I did research it. I knew the taxes were a little high. It's the County that's having a tough time keeping itself in check at the moment. She can keep plugging away...they make themselves look bad. We saw where that got them. Another 11 months of their bad behavior and another run for town government will have the same results.
ReplyDeleteI'm so very glad that this audit isn't the "doomsday" prophecy that Cristo / Taylor and Johnson want everyone to believe it was supposed to be. I've read it top to bottom and yes, there were "deficiencies" identified , and recommendations made to correct them , which is what is supposed to happen.
ReplyDeleteWhat I didn't see, and maybe I missed it, - is there a time frame given or mandated to initiate these suggestions? I see that the recommendations are not mandated and that there is no penalty imposed , nor will there be.
So I guess this should be more like a guide to changing things for the better based upon this audting firms recommendations. B
est of luck to our Town Board. I refuse to fall into the lull created by the doomsday bloggers who are never happy unless they've convinced someone the Town is falling apart at the seams and its all Rick McCabes fault and he was helped by those villians Ginny OBrien and Kate Bennett .
Yes, totally in agreement with that---it must be great to be independently wealthy to just be able to blog away all day with venom pumping through your veins. It's a beautiful thing that they continue after 13 months already to still put everything down in black and white, attend board meetings where they have given themselves permission to rudely act out and verbalize the mistruths and inconsistencies in whatever way they want for all to see and hear. oh, please keep it up, please, do continue. Continue to try and discredit all those who have 30-40+ years of employment history in the public and/or private sector; and, let's not forget the equal amount of years that these same people have shared on a more personal level with the children, families, businesses and residents of our town. Oh, please do keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI have had 3 jobs in my lifetime, one of them for 25 years. You know what I found out? Change is good. You get a different perspective from each job. I worked on the financial side of things and I can tell you that I would have been embarrassed if the audit of the books at any of the organizations I worked for had those findings. I din't even want to see an adjusting entry that I missed.
ReplyDeleteWe need to move forward even if the vile kool-aid drinkers won't! I am not going to read the vile trash that the mc/at/dj/sm write anymore. With only 30 followers they have an awful lot of blog traffic. The Mulvey character is a mean and nasty person and attacks town employees for what he calls politicking at work. Wonder if his boss knows he was blogging during his job today?
ReplyDelete4:33 - great - glad you enjoyed change - but again...unless I mis-read something , NOTHING noted in that report was considered FATAL , or even came close to rising to the level that someone should be arrested and prosecuted for some crime.
ReplyDeleteHey Sean Mulvey,Don't you Work 9:49 am you posted From a work computer i'm sure,playing on the internet while at work,Didnt you foil something like that ?Hum Chump was posting on cult blog on what he foiled.
ReplyDeleteI see Paul McKinney-( Moe Howard ) is back to his old "Switch and Bait " tactics again. He writes on the "other" blog and makes an attempt to discredit the Supe again, but ole Moe has his figures ALL wrong as usual. I read the figures and quite easily saw Moes clear attempt at a clever distortion.
ReplyDeleteMoe - the fact remains for your $307,000 assesment which was re-valed from $320,000 - ( where's the Thank You for the Town Moe??) you pay 22.1% for County tax, 21.2% for Town and 52.8% for School.
The Town is not responsible for the Library or Fire Districts.
So in the real world you pay LESS for the Town than the County.
Moe ; being a self proclaimed genius - you should know stats are like loose women - you can do anything you want with them !! -( giggle~ giggle !)
Have a nice Holiday season !
oh, for cripes sakes, let's just make an antiquated accounting program with its deficiencies that can be fixed into a big political deal!! What a bunch of kooks. Didn't Messrs. Cristo, Danaher and Matters create an IT position a year ago in the Town along with appointing a new Comptroller to work on these very items?
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a state agency and/or a municipality out there that hasn't had to replace and/or update their deficient systems. These programs are costly; however, the IT person and Comptroller can sit down like mature, educated individuals, and meet with other towns and OSC on the systems they use and recommend, and, in turn, make recommendations that will only help our town's accounting system for the future. The IT person and the Comptroller should be capable enough--this is their area.
Unreal, just unreal. Let's not do what is best for the town, its employees and its residents, let's just entertain these blogging kooks! Not! They are simply not on the same(sane) page and not worth it with their constant negativity and ignorance. They have no answers, just lunatic-laced criticism, and we all know how effective that was (is)!
It's up to the Supervisor and the present board along with their staffs to exhibit much-needed authority and to collectively make the decisions that are brought before them. Allow the others to continue to talk to themselves 24/7 and, in turn, they will continue to make themselves look even more foolish than ever---guess some things aren't capable to change.
2:05pm - my thoughts exactly !! Lets make a mountain out of a mole hill !! I -(we) all pay taxes in East Grenbush. I choose to pay mine , I may not like the amount, but I love living in East Greenbush,love raising my family here and am looking forward to a very pleasent next few years here !
ReplyDeleteI'm ALOT more frustrated and disappointed by the impending County Tax raise and almost guaranteed School Tax raise than I will ever be at my Town tax bill.
Contrary to their assertions that they approve posts that are important knowledge for the public, the other blog flat-out refuses to post anything they deem as contrary to their extremely slanted point of view.
ReplyDeleteI think not ! I was not necessarily referring to me personally - but you keep thinking that ! And... we'll at least post your ridiculous rant.
ReplyDeleteMany people who read this blog know that my post from 6:19pm is dead-on accurate - I don't need you to validate that point.
Hey Fairweather - this blog was created because the peabrains from over there couldn't handle hearing that not everyone was buying into their brand of Kool-Aide !
ReplyDeleteTaylor is famous for deleting posts - she even admits it several times. WTF-over !!
Than you EGTALKS for this forum. Several resident taxpayers read this blog. The effort brought by many to show that some of the political gamemanship coming out of the rreform camp was not all true was fantastic. It showed many of us that the Town is NOT in as bad shape as Cristo and Taylor wanted everyone to believe, that the financial crisis is the same in just about every New York municipality and East Greenbush is no different. I read each time you post one of their peoples little attempt at making themselves feel better- ( abernathy,dumbledore,merriweather) and it beccomes apparent that they still don't realize that Taylor lost. AS I read along, it is obvious that Ann has a short fuse and quick temper, it shows in her writings - ( giggle giggle) . What a mistake she would have been as a Town Board member.
ReplyDeleteI think AT would be a great candidate for 2011' we know she can be beat,bring her on.
ReplyDeleteditto 7:55am - bring it on - easy target for 2011 - very beatable
ReplyDeleteTuck I couldnt agree more with your statement.I am a retired town worker and my wife is a banker.I think she does a very good job.She has worked at the same bank for her entire banking career.But just because she is employed by a bank doesnt make her a candiate for town board.I am retired from the town after working for 37years,it is a great town and many nice people reside in town.But I must say at of all 37 years never was a election as bad .I am sure that many residents are totally confused because of the bad imformation fed them by the individuals that lost the election.The info would change day to day with them.Its a sad time in EastGreenbush when that type of ordeal [the election campaign]happened. I cant imagine what the town would look like with them running it for just one year.Have a good day all jim welsh
ReplyDeleteAT thinks it was a close election she should look into the history of EastGreenbush elections, years ago a person won by one vote..
ReplyDeleteYes it was my Dad,And proud of it,little do mike and ann know we have been around the elections our whole life not just when they think they can do better,i wish them and there chumps would go away.
ReplyDeleteOne vote? Kinda feel sorry for the loser there, regardless of who it was.
ReplyDeleteI remember that election well David. It was a "nailbiter" to say the least !
ReplyDeleteI think it was Art Quinn(RIP) who he beat,but there was no hard feelings like what happened this year,no mud slinging,just good old boys playing politics.
ReplyDelete