State Audit Cites Village of Lawrence for Improper Financial Oversights

The Village of Lawrence paid vendors $129,106 without properly reviewing the transactions, did not properly keep track of overtime payments to employees and hired a dozen service providers for $935,186 without soliciting bids, according to a recently released audit from the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

Meanwhile, the audit also said that the mayor at the time of the audit period — June 1, 2008, to October 31, 2009 — allowed a village clerk to use his signature stamp to sign checks. The mayor and deputy mayor were also cited for not safeguarding their signature stamps.

“We found that the board did not properly oversee certain village financial activities,” the auditors said in its report.

The office of the comptroller occasionally audits local municipalities to help them control their finances. A few months ago, it released an of the Village of Cedarhurst. Lawrence’s audit is significant because the village has recently put in place many financial controls.

The audit says that 10 of the 18 claims reviewed, totaling $118,113, did not include proper documentation, such as a purchase order, or confirmation from village officials that the goods and services were received and proper. Overtime payments amounting to $133,874 were incorrectly reported as regular salary, according to the audit, and $7,401 in overtime payments made to seven employees was not supported by any records. Ten employee files also lacked proper documentation. Finally, the audit says controls over information technology need to be improved.

Trustee C. Simon Felder, who was mayor during the time of the audit, said he didn’t do anything differently from the mayors that preceded him.

“Whichever way the administration did things was a continuation of how things were done in the past,” he said, adding that the purpose of the audit is to help municipalities improve.

But current mayor, Martin Oliner, said that when he became mayor, he immediately saw that changes were needed, even before he knew of the state’s audit.

“When you’re not the mayor, you can’t get answers. Even though you have concerns and issues, you can’t get them resolved. The entire buck goes with the mayor,” he said. “The mayor has insight that the trustees do not, no matter how active they are.”

Oliner said that prior to his term as mayor, the position was treated as a ceremonial position.

“That was the history of the position,” he said. “That’s why when I got there, I didn’t consider it different that my business. It is my business. I saw things that I didn’t like.”

The board has passed many new laws tightening financial controls, and oversight was a big theme of . At its last meeting, the board of trustees each transaction.

“While Lawrence has a tradition of volunteer trustees, the comptroller has correctly pointed out that there are significant fiduciary responsibilities invested, particularly in the office of mayor,” said Trustee Michael Fragin. “This is a cautionary document and we need to be vigilant with taxpayer funds.”

Oliner said that while errors have occurred in the past, they would not happen again.

“It really depends on the mayor — things like this can’t happen anymore, they won’t,” he said. “Someone has to be in charge.”

The audit is attached to this story. If you notice anything that Patch missed, email stephen.bronner@patch.com.