State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found in an audit released this week that the Great Neck Park District did not properly account for its capital assets.
The audit report stated that the board of commissioners failed to appoint a specific person to track the park district’s capital assets and that Finance Director Stephen Kessler did not properly account for the equipment.
The audit, which covered the park district’s capital assets from Jan. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024, involved interviewing district employees, reviewing its inventory, and reviewing its invoices.
Great Neck Park District Commissioner Vanessa Tamari acknowledged the shortfalls in a letter to In a letter to Ira McCracken, the chief of municipal audits for the state comptroller’s office.
“The District concurs with the recommendations outlined in the report and we are happy to share that a number of corrective actions have already been completed or are in the final planning stages,” Tamari said.
The comptroller’s office has offered eight recommendations for the park district to address the problems identified in the audit.
Although no one was officially appointed by the board of commissioners, Kessler and the district’s senior accountant were both effectively responsible for tracking capital assets.
Because the board did not provide official guidance on how to account for capital assets, park supervisors tracked equipment based on verbal directives from Kessler.
For example, park supervisors were unaware that they were required to attach a barcode label to equipment that they were supposed to record on their inventory list.
Out of 957 capital assets worth around $9.2 million, 696 assets amounting to around $7 million did not have a serial number, 466 did not have a model number, and 308 did not have a manufacturer’s name
Out of 50 assets that were recorded as “machinery and equipment,” the comptroller’s office “could not determine whether three of the 50 items with a combined acquisition value of $3,605 were in the District’s possession.”
A snow blower worth $1,099 was on the inventory but not present. Kessler said a $599 snow blower, which was present, was purchased instead, but the inventory was not updated.
Kessler said that a popcorn machine worth $1,549 was thrown out, but was not able to produce a disposal form, which is required.
Lastly, a laptop worth $957 was also stolen in 2021, but it was still listed in the inventory.
Kessler, who has been the finance director for the park district since 2007, has not conducted a physical inventory since 2012.
Since the audit, the district has clarified the changes it has made.
Based on the comptroller’s office’s advice, the park’s district finance director will now “be solely responsible for the duties of Inventory (Property) Control Manager.”
The board also authorized the purchase of a new enterprise asset management system at its last meeting, which will track the condition and location of capital assets.
“The board of commissioners has always been aware of its role as fiduciary stewards of the Park District,” Vanessa Tamari said. “The audit raised awareness [of] the room for improvement in some areas of policy and operations.”
