06/30/1976-FISCAL AUDITS - Laserfiche WebLink

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-Page 7 balance of cash would not provide the control over receipts from the State that is necessary. There must be a proof of transactions that will immediately detect any unrecorded transactions. Because of these deficiencies in the control over funds, I found it necessary to expand my audit of cash transactions to include more detailed proofs of cash than would normally be necessary, and to obtain from the State treasurer a list of payments made to the town during the period under audit. These procedures did not disclose any irregularities, however, the lack of control still exists. I suggest that this situation be given immediate attention. Collector's Department Procedures The collector is committed each year with approximately 26,200 bills for Real Estate, Personal Property, and Excise Tax which must be mailed and accounted for until paid or abated. At the present time these bills are prepared by computer and presented to the collector who must record each pay— ment manually in her cash receipts book and on the committment list, then periodically list the unpaid bills on the committment list to prove that the unpaid bills are in agreement with the controls. Posting of these payments consumes a major part of the time of the employees in the Collector/Treasurerts department and many hours are spent locating and correcting errors when the unpaid balances are not in proof. The computerized system of issuing tax bills that is presently in use by the town has an additional feature designed to eliminate many of the foregoing manual methods of recording transactions. By converting the present collection recording system to a computerized system that would automatically prepare cash receipts books and post payments to committment lists and provide period— ical detail lists of outstanding tax bills it would be possible to reduce the staff necessary to operate the Collector/Treasurer's office by at least 25%.