State Comptroller To Audit Mount Vernon's Finances

MOUNT VERNON, NY — As dysfunction in Mount Vernon City Hall continues to plague the government, Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard called on the New York State Comptroller's Office to do a thorough audit of the city's finances. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has agreed.

The audit should shake loose the city's financial records, which Comptroller Deborah Reynolds has hidden, Patterson-Howard said. It should also shake loose federal funds that have come in designated for the city's Urban Renewal Agency but which the Comptroller's Office has not turned over, she said.

"Her continued failure to transfer monies from city accounts to the URA paid to the city by HUD for the use of the URA is troubling," Patterson-Howard said. "These actions are crippling the agency’s ability to make timely rent payments for services of our most vulnerable residents and fails to satisfy our contractual payments to community-based partners who provide critical services to Mount Vernon."

Patterson-Howard said Reynolds had, at the end of 2019, installed an illegal firewall and removed financial records from the city servers. No department has access to the city's finances.

Reynolds' refusal to work with the mayor's office isn't new. In 2019, for example, Mayor Richard Thomas alleged Reynolds removed him from the city's bank-account signature card, something Thomas said was in violation of a court order and the City Charter.

But the new administration apparently has one thing that Thomas did not have: allies on the City Council.

"The lack of transparency from Comptroller Reynolds has been alarming, her inability to work with the council and administration to close the audits are a critical concern," said City Council President Lisa A. Copeland. "We are encouraged by the audit of the City of Mount Vernon from NYS Comptroller DiNapoli’s office and stand ready to assist."

The chair of the Council's Finance & Planning Committee, Marcus A. Griffith said, "We are excited and looking forward to NYS Comptroller DiNapoli coming in to assess our financial situation. We have had increased difficulties working with our City Comptroller to get an accurate view of our financials. As chair of Finance and Planning for the City Council we look forward to assisting the auditors with moving this process along."

Patterson-Howard asked for an audit of all city finances, including the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), Urban Renewal Agency (URA) and Board of Water Supply.

"The severe lack of transparency from the Comptroller's office regarding records of actuals requested by both the executive and legislative branches of government has raised several red flags," Patterson-Howard said. "There are grave concerns surrounding payroll and millions in unclaimed grants and federal aid including $1,900,000 dollars for street repaving. The combination of political infighting last year and the continued dereliction of duty on behalf of Comptroller Reynolds, who has blocked access to important financial data essential for the completion of the audits from 2016–2019, is troubling.

"The citizens of Mount Vernon deserve an accounting of each dollar spent. We look forward to taking the necessary steps to address corrective actions that arise from the audit," she said.

SEE: Mayor Challenges Comptroller About City's Bills