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State Comptroller’s Office Releases Audit Results for
Town of Denmark Claims Auditing Process
Published: July 13, 2026 at
01:30 p.m.
By: Provided by
Office of New York State Comptroller
Town of Denmark –
Claims Auditing (2026M-32)
Issued Date
June 26, 2026
[read complete
report – pdf]
Audit Objective
Did the Town of
Denmark (Town) Board (Board) properly audit and approve claims before
payment?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 –
January 21, 2026
Understanding the
Audit Area
The audit of
claims is often the last line of defense in preventing unauthorized,
improper or fraudulent claims from being paid. When a town has a strong
claims auditing process, the control consciousness of its staff is enhanced
because officials and employees are aware that a careful review of claims
will occur before public funds are disbursed. Because it is a town board’s
responsibility to ensure that tax dollars are spent properly, efficiently
and in the best interests of the taxpayers, the town board should conduct a
thorough and deliberate audit of claims before directing the town
supervisor to pay them.
During the period
January 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025, the Town paid 896 claims
totaling approximately $4 million from its main operating funds.
Audit Summary
The Board did not
properly audit and approve all claims before payment. While the Board
approved an abstract (list of claims) for payment each month, it did not
conduct a thorough audit of individual claims to determine whether they
contained adequate supporting documentation, represented actual and
necessary expenditures and were for valid Town purposes. Because the Board
did not conduct a thorough audit of claims before approving them for
payment, the Town had an increased risk that it could make improper
payments, which could remain undetected.
We reviewed 167
claims totaling approximately $1.2 million and identified discrepancies
with 105 claims totaling $673,969, which included the following:1
- Department head approval was not documented
for 102 claims totaling $608,034. Without these documented approvals,
Town officials could not ensure that the Town received the goods and
services and that the expenditures were properly authorized.
- Four claims for health insurance premiums
totaling $17,141 in our sample were not approved for payment by the
Board. Because claims for health insurance premiums were not included on abstracts, the Town Supervisor (Supervisor) paid
monthly health insurance invoices totaling $259,109 from January 2024
through September 2025 without Board approval. Therefore, the Board
could not ensure the accuracy of these payments and verify that only
eligible individuals received coverage.
- Five claims did not have adequate support,
such as original receipts or itemized invoices, for expenditures
totaling $11,773. During our audit, the Supervisor was able to provide
original receipts or other adequate supporting documentation from
vendors and a claimant to support four claims totaling $11,743.
However, when the Board approves claims without sufficient support, it
increases the likelihood that the Town could pay for inappropriate
expenditures that are not for Town purposes.
In addition, the
Town improperly paid two claims totaling approximately $43,500 for paving
materials and renting equipment that was used to pave a parking lot owned
by a volunteer fire company (fire company), which is a separate
not-for-profit entity. Although the fire company later reimbursed the Town
for the cost of the materials and rental services, the fire company did not
reimburse the Town for the Town’s highway employee labor costs of
approximately $1,500 for paving the parking lot. Because Article VIII,
Section 1 of the New York State (NYS) Constitution generally prohibits
towns from making gifts or loans to or in aid of a private entity, the Town
should not have used town funds and employees to perform paving work for a
private entity, such as the fire company.
In October 2025,
the Board began taking steps to improve the Town’s claims auditing process.
Before approving claims for payment at the October monthly meeting, Board
members reviewed the individual claims and signed and dated each claim
voucher to document their review and approval.
The report
includes four recommendations that, if implemented, will help the Board to
continue to improve the Town’s claims auditing process. Town officials
generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated
they plan to initiate corrective action.
This audit was
conducted pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and
the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC’s) authority as set
forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (GML). The
audit’s methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board has the
responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written corrective action
plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report
should be prepared and provided to OSC within 90 days, pursuant to GML
Section 35. For more information on preparing and filing the CAP, please
refer to the OSC brochure, Responding
to an OSC Audit Report, which was provided with the draft audit report.
The Board is encouraged to make the CAP available for public review in the
Town Clerk’s office.
FULL AUDIT REPORT
CAN BE VIEWED HERE
1 Some claims
contained more than one discrepancy. Refer to Appendix C for further
information on our sample selection.
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