Town Council selects firm for internal audit

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By Elio Gugliotti, Editor

PROSPECT — The Town Council Sept. 15 unanimously chose a New York-based firm to conduct an internal audit of the town’s financial controls and procedures.

The council awarded a bid to The Bonadio Group, which is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., for $39,750. The firm will review internal financial controls and evaluate areas vulnerable to fraud and abuse, the adequacy of the town’s financial policies and procedures, and the town’s financial and auditing organizational structure.

The internal audit will include a review of financial statements from fiscal years 2013-14 through 2018-19, and possibly the 2019-20 fiscal year.

The firm’s $39,750 bid is based on estimated hours to complete its review. The firm’s bid included an additional $6,600 fee if the 2019-20 fiscal year is part of the review.

Council Chairman Jeffrey Slapikas said the council will wait and see how the audit goes before deciding whether to include financial statements from 2019-20 in the review.

Slapikas said the firm is expected to start Nov. 1 and finish by the end of March.

The internal audit comes after a couple of significant financial issues in town over the past six years.

The largest was the theft from the town’s Webster Bank payroll account. Money was stolen from the account from December 2017 to November 2018. Town officials previously put the amount stolen at about $250,000.

The theft didn’t became public until January of this year when state police announced that they made an arrest in the investigation. The investigation is ongoing, according to officials.

Seven transactions totaling about $45,000 were made from the budget for public works employees’ salary to pay five outside vendors and two non-public works employees in the 2014-15 fiscal year. In 2017, the council investigated the transactions. At the time, the transactions were attributed to human error.

Slapikas said the council does not feel there is any wrongdoing in Town Hall. He said the intent of the audit is to identify and address any weaknesses and deficiencies in the town’s procedures, and move the town’s practices into the 21st century.

The council received two bids for the audit. O’Connor Davies, a firm based in Wethersfield, bid an average hourly rate of $250, but no total amount for the job.

The council interviewed both firms Sept. 9, before selecting The Bonadio Group last week.

Council members expressed confidence in The Bonadio Group’s understanding of what officials are looking for from the audit and the firm’s ability to adapt to the town’s needs.