The Shelter Rock Public Library has stepped up oversight of its finances in recent months after a state comptroller’s audit found its practices could be tighter.
The audit released last week found the library wasn’t employing an independent official to reconcile pending deposits and expenses for its 13 bank accounts, and the administrators doing the reconciliations were not subject to any review in many cases.
Since officials saw the audit in the fall, the library and its Board of Trustees have implemented the comptroller’s recommendations, including hiring Mineola accounting firm Rynkar, Vail & Barrett to handle bank reconciliations starting in January.
“The board views this process as an opportunity to further the library’s commitment to its taxpayers to be fiscally responsible,” Library Director Andrea Meluskey wrote in the library’s response to the audit.
According to the audit, three different administrators reconcile the library’s accounts to determine its actual balance by adding pending deposits and subtracting checks that have yet to be cashed.
A senior account clerk reconciles eight accounts, a part-time clerk handles three and Meluskey reconciles one. Only the part-time clerk’s reconciliations are reviewed by the senior clerk.
The 73 bank statements that auditors reviewed for January 2014 through June 2015 were error-free and done on time, the report said.
But the audit says someone without access to the accounts should reconcile them to prevent mistakes and fraud, and it recommends a separate board member review them.
“(W)ithout supervisory or board review of bank statements and reconciliations, the library has an increased risk that errors or unauthorized banking activities may go undetected,” Deputy Comptroller Gabriel F. Deyo wrote in the audit report.
In addition to hiring the independent accounting firm, the library board has received all the library’s bank reconciliations as part of the monthly financial report since October, and has tasked Treasurer Marisa Ferraro with reviewing the reconciliations each month.
In her audit response, Meluskey said the comptroller’s representatives were “extremely helpful” when it came to reviewing the library’s practices.
While the library does its own audit every year, Meluskey said in an interview, this was the first state audit she’s seen since starting as library director in 2002.
