2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 3 - Report of Financial Condition › 33 - Accounts of Officers to Be Examined.

§  33.  Accounts  of  officers  to  be  examined.  1.  Inspection  and
examination  of  certain  accounts.  The  comptroller  shall  cause  the
accounts  of all officers of each such municipal corporation, industrial
development agency, district, agency and activity to  be  inspected  and
examined  by one or more examiners of municipal affairs for such periods
as the comptroller shall  deem  necessary.  On  every  such  examination
inquiry shall be made as to the financial condition and resources of the
municipal  corporation,  industrial development agency, district, agency
or activity, and into the method and accuracy of its accounts.
2. Audits of  school  districts,  boards  of  cooperative  educational
services  (BOCES)  and  charter  schools.  a.  Notwithstanding any other
provisions of law to the contrary, the  inspection  and  examination  of
school  districts, charter schools and boards of cooperative educational
services accounts shall be conducted  pursuant  to  provisions  of  this
subdivision.  Within  such funds as are made available for such purpose,
the comptroller shall cause the accounts of every school district, BOCES
and charter school in the state  to  be  examined  pursuant  to  a  plan
developed by the comptroller. Such audits shall be conducted in a manner
so  as  to provide, that every school district, BOCES and charter school
shall be audited at least once by March thirty-first, two thousand  ten.
The  priority  and  frequency  of  such audits, and any audits conducted
thereafter, shall be based upon a risk assessment process  conducted  by
the   comptroller   which   may   include   investigations   of  alleged
improprieties, previous audit findings  and  recommendations,  or  other
financial performance indicators. The comptroller shall provide affected
school  districts,  BOCES  and  charter  schools reasonable prior notice
before the commencement of any audit.
b. In undertaking such audits the comptroller's review shall  include,
but not be limited to:
(1) examining, auditing and evaluating financial documents and records
of school districts, BOCES and charter schools,
(2)  assessing  the  current  financial practices of school districts,
BOCES and charter schools  to  ensure  that  they  are  consistent  with
established standards, including whether any school district that uses a
risk-based  or  sampling methodology to determine which claims are to be
audited in lieu of auditing all claims has adopted  a  methodology  that
provides  reasonable  assurance  that  all the claims represented in the
sample are proper charges against the school district; and
(3) determining that school  districts,  BOCES,  and  charter  schools
provide   for   adequate   protections  against  any  fraud,  theft,  or
professional misconduct.
c.  All  audits   shall   include   any   appropriate   findings   and
recommendations of the auditors, regarding the fiscal practices that the
auditors  believe  to be in violation of, any state or federal law, rule
or regulation, or demonstrate negligence or incompetence.
d. The office of the state comptroller shall upon making a finding  of
misconduct   refer  any  findings  of  fraud,  abuse  or  other  conduct
constituting a crime that are uncovered during the course of  an  audit,
as  appropriate,  to  the commissioner of education, the charter entity,
the attorney general, United States attorney or district attorney having
jurisdiction  for  appropriate  action,  together  with  any   documents
supporting the auditors' findings.
e.  The final audit report resulting from audits performed pursuant to
this section shall be made available to the public by school  districts,
BOCES  or  charter  schools  upon  request for a period of at least five
years. Furthermore, the school district, BOCES, or charter school  shall
be required to post the final audit report on their internet website, if
available, or otherwise make available, for a period of five years.
f.  Upon  the  request  of the comptroller, any state agency, board of
cooperative educational services, school  district  or  charter  school,
shall  cooperate  with  and  make  its  staff, facilities, and resources
available  to  the  comptroller  for  the  purpose  of   assisting   the
comptroller  in carrying out all actions taken pursuant to this section,
and shall provide the  comptroller  upon  request,  with  all  data  and
records  in  its possession that relate to audits undertaken pursuant to
this section.
g. The comptroller shall  inform  and  advise  the  governor  and  the
legislature  in  December  of each year regarding a review of all school
districts, BOCES,  and  charter  schools  audits  conducted  during  the
preceding   twelve  months  and  any  other  pertinent  information  the
comptroller deems appropriate.
3.  Examinations  and  report.  In  addition  to  the  inspection  and
examination   of   certain   accounts  pursuant  to  this  section,  the
comptroller by the end of the two thousand eleven--two  thousand  twelve
school  year,  shall  also  examine  for  the most recent school year as
practicable, the employee benefit accrued  liability  reserve  funds  of
school  districts established pursuant to section six-p of this chapter.
Such examination shall be for the purpose of determining the  amount  of
funding in the reserve fund, the amount of liabilities against such fund
and  if there exist funds in the reserve fund which are in excess of the
total liabilities of such fund. The comptroller shall notify the  school
district  if  such excess funds exist and the dollar value of the excess
funding. The comptroller shall also  prepare  a  report  on  the  school
districts  with excess funds in their employee benefit accrued liability
reserve fund and the amount of the excess  funding  for  each  district.
Such report shall be submitted by July first, two thousand twelve to the
director  of  the budget, the chair of the senate finance committee, the
chair of the assembly ways and means committee and the  commissioner  of
education.