A state audit found widespread financial recordkeeping failures in the Town of Cato, raising concerns about oversight, transparency, and the potential for misuse of public funds.
The report from the New York State Comptroller’s Office concluded that the town supervisor did not maintain complete, accurate, or up-to-date financial records, leaving the town board without reliable information to manage operations or monitor spending.
Auditors identified significant discrepancies, including $348,817 in unrecorded receipts and $744,572 in unrecorded disbursements over a multi-year period. These gaps were attributed in part to the supervisor delegating financial responsibilities to a bookkeeper without adequate oversight, allowing errors to go undetected…