VETO MESSAGE - No. 296
TO THE SENATE:
I am returning herewith, without my approval, the following bill:
Senate Bill Number 4989-A, entitled:
"AN ACT to amend chapter 380 of the laws of 2005 relating to estab-
lishing the Chemung county library district, in relation to the
audit and payment of claims by such library district; and provid-
ing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof"
NOT APPROVED
This bill would amend L. 2005, ch. 380 to authorize the Chemung County
Library District (Library) to appoint a designee to audit and approve
non-personal service expenditures on behalf of the Library's Board of
Trustees before payment is made by the Library's treasurer.
The Library is the custodian of all funds of the district, including
gifts and trust funds paid over to the trustees. Presently, only the
Library's board of trustees has the authority to audit and approve these
expenditures. While I recognize that requiring board approval for
expenditures may place an administrative burden on library operations,
this bill would ultimately weaken the Library's internal controls by
delegating the audit authority to an unspecified person or entity.
Moreover, there is no language limiting who can serve as the designee,
thus potentially compromising the independence of the audit. Finally,
the bill is not aligned with sound fiscal practices for public
libraries, as eliminating such oversight by the board may decrease the
ability to detect mismanagement of library finances.
For these reasons, I am therefore constrained to veto this bill.
However, I would ask the State Education Department to work with the
Library to consider alternative approaches to address this concern.
These bills are disapproved. (signed) ANDREW M. CUOMO