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Appendix D: General Recordkeeping Requirements for Town Clerks Adequate accounting records and effective procedures should be in place to account for and report town clerk financial activities properly. Some basic and essential recordkeeping and reporting procedures include the following: 1. Maintain a cashbook, which chronologically identifies all receipts and disbursements. 2. Make all disbursements by check, except as otherwise authorized by law, such as authorized petty cash disbursements. 3. Maintain official bank accounts in designated depositories. 4. Deposit all moneys received to official bank account no later than the third business day after $250 has been collected (Town Law Section 30 [1-a]). 5. Perform a monthly reconciliation of cash with amount in the bank and related liabilities. 6. Prepare monthly reports and remit collections to the supervisor and agencies on a timely basis: • To the Town Supervisor – for fees and other moneys collected belonging to the town no later than the fifteenth day of each month following receipt (Town Law Section 27[1]). • To the New York State Department of Health – for marriage license fees on or before the fifteenth day of each month (Domestic Relations Law Section 15[3]). • To the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets – Dog Licensing Unit and County Treasurer – for dog license fees on or before the fifth day of each month (Agriculture and Markets Law Section 111[])). • To the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) – for conservation (hunting/fishing) license fees as applicable via the DEC’s automated system (Environmental Conservation Law Section 11-0713; 6 NYCRR Section 177.4). The town clerk of certain towns may also serve as the tax-collecting officer (see Town Law Section 36). As collecting officer, the town clerk generally would be responsible for collecting both town real property taxes and county real property taxes that are levied within the town. A portion of the taxes collected (the amount levied by the town) is remitted to the town supervisor, and any residual amount is paid to the county treasurer (see Town Law Section 35). Because of some unique or additional legal requirements pertaining to tax collecting officers, a separate audit checklist has been developed for this portion of the clerk’s functions. Fiscal Oversight Responsibilities of the Governing Board 26 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT GUIDE