BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — Financial auditors from Seyfarth & Seyfarth CPAs P.C. have issued a cautionary warning to village trustees after completing their audit for the previous fiscal year.

Carl Seyfarth, who recently previewed the audit’s findings at a village board meeting, noted a number of areas the village should monitor.

One such finding in the audit conducted was “a significant unusual transaction” that resulted from the village assuming control of the Massena Rescue Squad.

The rescue squad was transferred from town to village control on Jan. 1, 2022.

“There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but it was significant. You guys took over the EMS program from the town, and that had a really major impact on your financial savings,” Seyfarth said.

According to Seyfarth, when the village assumed control of the rescue squad, all assets related to the organization were valued around $1.3 million.

“That’s an asset to you and goes into your financial statements and your fixed assets and gets appreciated and all that other good stuff. You also had revenue from that. That was a pretty sizable transaction, and we don’t see that every day,” he said.

Seyfarth also spoke to the use of COVID-19 grants received from the federal government that were used to cover part of the purchase for a new fire truck.

Seyfarth told officials that because a deposit was put down on the vehicle but had not yet been received, the deposit would count towards the village’s federal money next year. In doing so, the village could go over its limit, triggering a special audit, he said.

“You don’t get that often. But, when you do the federal line, there’s a lot of strings attached, a lot of T’s to cross and I’s to dot that you need to be aware of. Especially if you’re buying equipment with those federal grants, there’s a lot of record-keeping requirements,” Seyfarth said.

Seyfarth said the village officials would have to do their due diligence or risk being written up in an audit situation.

Seyfarth also called attention to the village’s leases after new rules were announced.

It was recommended that village officials establish an inventory with the numerous types of leases and analyze them through the lens of the new rules to determine the best path forward for accounting practices.

“Basically what’s going to happen is any long-term leases you have are going to go on your balance sheet as both an asset and a liability. So, that could be a big deal. It’s probably a good idea to get started on that early,” Seyfarth said..

Seyfarth also pointed out that the village is in a “negative net position” due to the expense of health insurance benefits for retirees and employees who have hit retirement age. However he said that is not out of the ordinary and every government he has worked with was in the same position.

“You have an actuary who calculates that for you. The lion’s share is from that and that negative position,” Seyfarth said.