Comptroller: Cayuga County, N.Y., Lacks Adequate IT Oversight

(TNS) — The Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District's lack of fiscal oversight contributed to a $1 million decrease in its financial condition from 2018 to 2020, a state audit report said.

The Office of the State Comptroller last week released two audit reports on the district's operations, including one that recommended improved monitoring of budgets by officials and the board that governs it. Another audit report focused on the district's information technology policies and procedures and found those to be lacking, as well.

The CCSWCD operates independently of county government under the direction of an appointed board of directors, with the bulk of its revenue coming from state grants and the Cayuga County general fund. It has a roughly $3.1 million budget and 13 employees, according to the auditors.

The comptroller's office reviewed the district's finances and IT safeguards from Jan. 1, 2018, through April 10, 2020.

"District officials did not effectively manage the District's financial condition," the financial audit report said. "The District's financial condition declined approximately $1 million during our audit period because of the Board's hindered ability to recognize revenue shortfalls or cost overruns, limiting any potential corrective action."

The report recommended the board keep better tabs on its finances by having staff provide regular budget-to-actual reports. It also said the district should adopt multi-year financial and capital improvement plans.

In its response to the audit report, the district said both of those recommendations are already being implemented.

"While we are encouraged that your audit did not find any evidence of fraudulent activity or significant financial issues, we realize that there is room for improvement," district board Chairman  Ray Lockwood  wrote.

The information technology audit said the district did not have adequate policies and procedures in place for safeguarding its assets, which include 18 computers and one server. It suggested developing and adopting IT policies and providing staff training to ensure property awareness of security practices.

Like the financial audit, the district provided a response that generally agreed with the comptroller's office findings and said steps have been taken to implement the recommendations

(c)2020 The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.