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Credit Card Purchases The former Director, appointed in January 2017 and terminated on September 22, 2021, was arrested in September 2022 and charged with one count of official Credit card misconduct, one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree and one count of petit larceny relating to her use of the Town’s credit card. She purchases pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in December 2022. should be The Finance Office issued a credit card to the former Director, the IT Director, the supported Director of Personnel and the Assistant Accountant. by adequate What Are Supported and Proper Credit Card Purchases? documentation Credit card purchases should be supported by adequate documentation including including itemized invoices, or receipts detailing the goods or services provided. There should be sufficient information to determine that the purchases were for itemized proper town purposes. To accomplish this, a town board (board) must provide invoices, appropriate oversight and monitoring, which includes auditing and approving payment for credit card charges and establishing written policies and procedures or receipts to help ensure that credit card transactions are authorized prior to being incurred detailing and adequately supported. Such policies and procedures should include prior approval for transactions to ensure that transactions are necessary town the goods expenditures. and service Department heads should review all credit card purchases made by their provided. department’s personnel by reconciling statements with itemized receipts, invoices and purchase orders. If these transactions are made by a department head, this review and approval should be provided by the town supervisor. In addition, claims should be approved and paid timely to avoid unnecessary costs, such as late fees and interest penalty charges. Ultimately, the board is responsible for auditing and approving claims including claims for credit card charges. Credit Card Purchases Were Not Always Supported or for Proper Town Expenditures We reviewed 121 credit card statements for four Finance Office employees that included 1,283 transactions totaling $395,421. Based on our review, 164 transactions totaling $79,571 were not supported with appropriate documentation, such as invoices or itemized receipts, to demonstrate what goods or services were purchased. Purchases By The Former Director – The former Director used her Town credit card for 123 transactions totaling $9,183. We determined that 16 transactions totaling $1,896 were not supported with sufficient documentation to establish the appropriateness of the purchase. Additionally, the former Director’s transaction logs that detail credit card transactions were not always prepared timely. Some of transactions were as follows: 2 Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller