The City of New York Office of the Comptroller
Bureau of Management Audit
Audit Report on the Financial and Operating Practices of the Staten Island Community Boards No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3
MG07-080A
June 8, 2007
AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF
Download the Complete Audit Report (pdf 297 kb)
The audit determined whether the Staten Island Community Boards (Boards) are complying with applicable payroll, personnel, purchasing, and inventory policies and procedures.
There are Community Boards for each of the 59 Community Districts throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Each Community Board has up to 50 non-salaried members who are appointed by the Borough President of the respective borough. Each Community Board has a Chairperson and a District Manager who is responsible for managing the daily operations of the district office.
For Fiscal Year 2006, the “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report” of the Comptroller reported that Community Board No.1 (Board 1) expenditures totaled $174,997 for Personal Services (PS) and $55,772 for Other Than Personal Services (OTPS); Community Board No.2 (Board 2) expenditures totaled $173,051 for PS and $59,167 for OTPS; and Community Board No.3 (Board 3) expenditures totaled $173,777 for PS and $79,015 for OTPS.
Audit Findings and Conclusions
The Boards generally complied with applicable Comptroller’s Directives, leave regulations for managerial and non-managerial employees, Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules, and the Department of Investigation (DOI) “Standards for Inventory Control and Management” regarding payroll, personnel, purchasing, and inventory activities. However, our review revealed minor weaknesses in the controls over purchasing transactions, including imprest funds, and over the inventory of physical assets.
Audit Recommendations
To address these issues, we make seven recommendations, including that:
- Board 2 should comply with Comptroller’s Directive #3 guidelines related to the use of imprest funds;
- Board 2 should continue to ensure that only those persons authorized actually sign imprest fund checks; and
- All three Boards should ensure that expense reimbursement request forms are submitted by employees and appropriately signed prior to authorizing reimbursements.
Agency Response
In their responses, the Community Boards agreed with the audit recommendations.
