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Obtained from "Fiscal Oversight Responsibilities of the Governing Board" produced by the NYS Comptroller's office. D&M deteremined whether each item was being performed through testing and Appendix E: discussions with the Town Clerk. General Recordkeeping Requirements for Tax Collecting Officers In order to accomplish their responsibilities and properly account for tax collections, collectors and receivers of taxes and assessments should, and in some cases must, comply with the following: 1. Maintain tax warrants, tax rolls, tax bills (statement of taxes due), and other documents relating to tax accounts. 2. Maintain a cashbook, which chronologically identifies all receipts and disbursements. 3. Maintain official bank accounts in designated depositories. 4. Issue acceptable receipt forms to acknowledge all moneys collected (tax bill and tax receipts are generally one document). 5. Deposit all moneys received in a timely manner. For Towns Only: Deposit to the appropriate bank account(s) within 24 hours of collection. 6. Make all disbursements by check except for authorized petty cash payments. 7. For Towns Only: Generally, remit tax collections to the supervisor at least once a week until payment in full of all moneys payable to him/her pursuant to the warrant have been made. 8. For Towns Only: After payment to the supervisor in full of all moneys payable to him/her pursuant to the warrant, remit additional tax collections, if any, to the county treasurer by the 15th day of the month following collection. 9. Prepare a list of unpaid taxes at expiration of the warrant, and complete settlement with the county treasurer, if applicable. (See, generally, Town Law Section 35, pertaining to the powers and duties of collectors, and Town Law Section 37, pertaining to the powers and duties of receivers of taxes and assessments.) An Important Initial Step in the Audit Process for Tax Collectors and Receivers Following the tax collection period, the tax collector or receiver is required to account for or settle up real property taxes that the collector or receiver was responsible for collecting. The accounting is made to the county treasurer, and is considered an important and integral part of any audit and/or oversight process. Before the town board audits the records of the tax collector or receiver, a copy of the settlement sheet should be obtained and reviewed. If necessary, inquiry should be made with the county treasurer to find out if there were any known problems or concerns with the collector’s or receiver’s records or accounting at the time of settlement. Note: An audit of the tax collector or receiver could be done any time after settlement with the county treasurer. Once the collector or receiver has settled with the county, there should be no further activity and the bank account balance should be zero (unless the bank, at the time of opening the account, required a minimum amount to be held in the account). Fiscal Oversight Responsibilities of the Governing Board 30 LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT GUIDE