Financial Audit Of Montclair Released: Comments, Recommendations

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The revised 2023 Report of Audit on the Financial Statements of the Township of Montclair was released this week. It covers the year that ended Dec. 31, 2023.

Read the report below, or view it online here.

“The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards,” wrote the auditor, Suplee, Clooney & Company LLC.

“However, we noted immaterial matters of noncompliance which are discussed in Part II, General Comments and Recommendations Section of the report,” the firm added.

Some general comments included:

CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS REQUIRED TO BE ADVERTISED FOR – “The Township has a Qualified Purchasing Agent and has elected to increase its bid threshold to $44,000. The governing body of the Municipality has the responsibility of determining whether the expenditures in any category will exceed $44,000 within the fiscal year. Where question arises as to whether any contract or agreement might result in violation of the statute, the Township Counsel's opinion should be sought before a commitment is made.”

PURCHASING – “We noted that not all vendors over the bid threshold are being approved by the council. Per our review of the minutes, we noted that seven of 25 items tested were not approved. The items noted were Co-op’s and State contracts.”

MUNICIPAL COURT – “We noted that disbursements in four of the twelve months were not made to the appropriate agencies on a timely basis as required by Administrative Office of the Courts. The total amount of tickets assigned to officers but not issued that are greater than six months are 953. This practice limits the effectiveness of the ticket control log as well as the proper accounting for traffic tickets.”

OUTSIDE OFFICE – “We noted that eight of seventeen cash receipts tested for the Fire Department were not turned over to the Finance Department within 48 hours as required by State statute 40A:5-15. We noted that the Police Department were not turning over to the Finance Department cash receipts within 48 hours as required by State statute 40A:5-15. Also, duplicate receipts are not maintained. A list of transaction are maintained in a manual journal. We noted that three of seventeen cash receipts tested for the Planning and Zoning Department were not turned over to the Finance Department within 48 hours as required by State statute 40A:5-15.”

CYBERSECURITY – “As part of its overall risk management, the Township reviews security measures in place relating to its Information Technology (IT), including the use of specialized assessments. With the ever-increasing challenges relating to cybersecurity, each organization determines what particular assessment or combination of assessments best fits its information security strategy. We suggest management continue to assess risks related to cybersecurity along with the utilization of specialized assessments, which would also include a periodic reporting mechanism to those charged with governance.”

SEGREGATION OF DUTIES – “Conditions exist whereby the same person may, collect, record and deposit cash receipts as well as request, order and receive goods and services. This is mainly in the outside offices and is due to the limited personnel. We recommend that the departments try to have different individuals perform different tasks in order to segregate functions.”

The firm made the following recommendations:

• That all vendors over the bid threshold be approved by the council.
• That all municipal court disbursements be made to the appropriate agencies on a timely basis as required by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
• That the municipal court and police department coordinate a procedure to return unassigned traffic tickets in order to better keep track of the tickets.
• That cash receipts for the Fire Department, Police Department and Planning and Zoning Department be turned over to the Finance Department within 48 hours as required by State statute 40A:5-15.
• That the departments try to have different individuals perform different tasks in order to segregate duties/functions.

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