Audit Ends on Positive Note

For the past year, Supervisor McCabe and myself have gotten harassed, abused and criticized about hiring a firm to perform a forensic audit on the Town's finances and its practices.

Little attention has been paid to the economic situation that has gripped our region and even our country. East Greenbush, unfortunately, is not unique in its financial condition and has taken steps to elevate its economic situation. The Supervisor has pursued the advice of our financial adviser in developing a recovery plan and moving our Town forward.

Both the Supervisor and myself have held steady against the rants of the opposition calling for a forensic audit,their motivation has been their need to "discover" something improper and possibly illegal in the Town's financial protocols.

Supervisor McCabe and myself have called for and voted for an audit to be performed on the 2009 books. Bids were solicited and a firm (UHY) was selected and hired. Since May 2010 they have audited our records. This included review of our financial statements and discussions with management officials to complete their task.

On Thurs 10/28, the audit team met with the town Board and other management staff for an exit interview. As this process concluded, the Town Comptroller raised the topic of a forensic audit. He asked whether after completing the general audit they felt a further Forensic Audit was needed. Marilyn Prendergast, a partner in UHY, emphatically stated they found "no smoking gun" and that a forensic audit was unnecessary. This statement from a professional in the field validated the opinions that we held about this type of audit. We believe in the need for audits, they are both instructional and informative. This is a sound business practice that should be continued. The expense for this function should be budgeted in the 2011 budget.

In this day of concern and scrutiny about expending taxpayer dollars, the forensic audit would have been an unnecessary and wasteful use of our Town resources.

We look forward to receiving the certified Audit Report later in November, so we may consider, and implement changes and efficiencies recommended by the auditors.

Ginny O'Brien,
Town Board Member