Text · page 12 of 15
Read the whole document on one page (all 15 pages, each with its own heading)
Appendix B: Audit Methodology and Standards We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law. We obtained an understanding of internal controls that we deemed significant within the context of the audit objective and assessed those controls. Information related to the scope of our work on internal controls, as well as the work performed in our audit procedures to achieve the audit objective and obtain valid audit evidence, included the following: l We interviewed Town officials, employees and department heads and reviewed Board meeting minutes to gain an understanding of the Town’s payroll and leave record processes and to determine whether there were any written payroll and leave policies and procedures. We also reviewed CBAs, individual employment contracts, employee personnel files and timesheets to identify employee pay rates, leave benefits, leave use, leave balances and to determine eligibility requirements for separation and opt-out payments. l We identified 80 full-time employees who earned leave from January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. We used our professional judgment to select a sample of 27 full-time officials and employees. Our sample included employees from various CBAs and job titles. This sample included 22 employees who use the Town’s timekeeping system, and five exempt employees who do not participate in the timekeeping system, but request approval to use leave. We reviewed these employees’ leave records to determine whether leave used was accurate, supported and approved. In addition, we used our professional judgment to select one full-time highway department employee from our sample for a detailed review of timesheet modifications to determine the reliability of time and attendance records used to track leave use and compensatory time earned. l We obtained read-only access for the Town’s payroll system and compared each department head’s manual leave records to the payroll system leave records. We also reviewed the payroll system’s audit trail to examine timesheet modifications. l We identified 30 employees who separated from Town employment between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2023, and 21 received separation payments totaling $230,717. We recalculated these payments using stipulations in each employee’s CBA. We compared our calculation to the Town’s calculation to determine whether separation payments were accurate. We also reviewed these employees’ personnel files to examine supporting documentation including leave summary records and separation letters. l We compared the employee names on the health insurance bills to payroll reports for the period January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2023 to examine whether employees were receiving health insurance as well as opt-out payments. We also examined whether health insurance opt-out waivers were filled out and signed for each employee who opted out based on criteria outlined in the CBA. We reviewed all 70 opt-out payments made to 18 employees and one elected official totaling $105,740 during our audit period to determine whether they were accurate, approved and supported. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our 10 Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller