NY City Audits Unions, Including Firefighters

Nov. 1 -- A pair of audits conducted by the city's private accounting firm have been completed and city officials expect the final versions to be ready soon.

Finance Director Scott Schrader and Acting Mayor David Wohleben said they are in receipt of the drafts prepared by the Bonadio Group and are awaiting the final versions.

Schrader said he asked about the status of the final reports on Monday and that representatives from the firm have indicated that they are "wrapping it up."

One of the audits involved a review of practices tied to four different unions — The Hickory Club, CSEA, The Lockport Firefighters Professional Association and AFSCME — to make sure they are in line with existing contracts.

The other audit looked at the overtime, payroll and procedures within the police department.

Wohleben said they received the draft reports about three weeks ago and sent it back to the Bonadio Group to provide "as much detail as possible" with the audits. He explained that when a draft report is sent, the accountants often ask how much detail the entity would like.

Wohleben is hoping that they will receive the final audits sometime this week.

When asked if the reports would be released publicly, Wohleben said "absolutely."

Wohleben expects to speak about the results of the audits because of certain changes in policy that might result in what he described as "action items."

The police overtime audit was requested during the Jan. 22 meeting of the Police Board of Commissioners.

At this same meeting, members of the police board agreed to place former Chief of Detectives and ex-Training Capt. Brian Wentland on paid administrative leave amid a dispute involving $275 in overtime pay.

Schrader had asked for money in the 2018 budget for a contract compliance audit.

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