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Appendix C: 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. To achieve the audit objective and obtain valid audit evidence, our audit procedures included the following: ll We interviewed City officials and reviewed the City Code to gain an understanding of the garbage collection and fee environment. We also requested all written policies and procedures related to garbage collection assessment and billing from the DPW Commissioner and DPW clerk and were advised there were none. ll We reviewed the 2020 assessment roll to determine the number of garbage fees indicated for each property. We compared the number of assessed garbage fees to the number of units indicated by the property type to identify properties that did not appear to be assessed garbage fees in accordance with the Code. We identified 220 properties that did not appear to have been assessed the correct number of garbage fees. ll We compared 220 properties that were assessed garbage fees that were not consistent for the property type to a list of City employees to determine whether employees received unsupported collection fee adjustments. ll We used our professional judgment to select 33 of the 220 properties that did not appear to have been assessed or billed garbage fees consistent with the Code, including four City employees with unsupported fee adjustments and eight single family properties that were not assessed and billed garbage collection fees. We followed up on these properties through discussions with City officials and reviewing the Online Assessors Reporting System and other supporting documentation to determine whether the assessed fee and property code were incorrect. ll We reviewed all 10 garbage fee adjustment memos filed with the DPW clerk during our audit period and traced them to the 2020 assessment roll and respective 2020-21 tax bills to determine whether the collection fees were assessed and billed appropriately. ll We compared the 2020 assessment roll garbage fee information with the garbage fees billed per the 2020-21 tax bill report, omitting properties previously tested, to identify properties that did not appear to be billed the proper garbage fees. We identified 27 properties with potential discrepancies and reviewed documentation for the garbage fee exemptions applied to these properties during our audit period to determine whether the exemptions were in accordance with the Code and properly supported. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with GAGAS (generally accepted government auditing standards). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a 12 Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller