Section 2350-S. Audit, annual reports, and access to books, records, and accounts  


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  • 1. In conformity  with  the  provisions  of  section  five  of  article  ten  of  the  constitution, the accounts of the agency shall be
      subject to the supervision of the comptroller. The agency shall annually
      submit to the governor and comptroller and to  the  chairperson  of  the
      senate  finance  committee  and the chairperson of the assembly ways and
      means committee a detailed report pursuant to the provisions of  section
      twenty-eight hundred of this chapter, and a copy of such report shall be
      filed with the county executive and the clerk of the county legislature.
        2.  The  agency  shall  also submit with its annual report, (a) a debt
      issuance report that  includes  the  date  of  issuance,  term,  amount,
      interest  rate  and  means of repayment. Additionally, the debt schedule
      shall also include all refinancings, calls, refundings, defeasements and
      interest rate exchange or other such agreements, and for any debt issued
      during the reporting year, the schedule shall also  include  a  detailed
      list  of  costs  of  issuance for such debt; (b) a compensation schedule
      that shall include, by position, title and name of  the  person  holding
      such  position  or  title,  the  salary,  compensation, allowance and/or
      benefits provided to any officer, director or  employee  in  a  decision
      making or managerial position of the agency whose salary is in excess of
      one  hundred  thousand dollars; (c) a project report that shall describe
      in detail the projects undertaken by the agency during  the  past  year;
      and  (d)  a  report  detailing such agency's code of ethics and a report
      that provides an assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control
      structure and procedures.
        3. Every report submitted under subdivision two of this section  shall
      also  be  certified  by the county executive and the county chief budget
      officer to the effect that the information provided therein is  accurate
      and correct based upon the respective officer's knowledge.
        4.  The  agency  shall submit to the county executive, the chairperson
      and ranking minority member of the senate  finance  committee,  and  the
      chairperson  and  ranking minority member of the assembly ways and means
      committee, for their information, annually  not  less  than  sixty  days
      before the commencement of its fiscal year, in the form submitted to its
      members  or  trustees,  budget  information  on  operations  and capital
      construction setting forth the estimated receipts and  expenditures  for
      the  next  fiscal  year  and  the  current  fiscal  year, and the actual
      receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  last   completed   fiscal   year.
      Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law  to the contrary, if the
      agency has a budget with accumulated debt in  excess  of  fifty  million
      dollars, it shall submit a five year capital plan with its budget.
        5.  The  agency  shall  provide  the  secretaries of the state finance
      committee and the assembly ways and means committee, with access to  any
      and all books, records, audits and contracts of the agency.
        6.  Notwithstanding  any  provision of law to the contrary, the agency
      shall annually not later than ninety days before the  beginning  of  its
      fiscal  year submit its proposed operating budget to the director of the
      county's independent budget review office for review and comment.
        7. Independent audit reports and financial disclosure of  the  agency.
      The  agency  shall  submit  to the governor, the chairperson and ranking
      minority member of the senate finance  committee,  the  chairperson  and
      ranking  minority  member  of the assembly ways and means committee, the
      state comptroller, and the director of  the  county  independent  budget
      review  office within thirty days after receipt thereof by the agency, a
      copy of an independent audit report  performed  by  a  certified  public
      accounting firm and management letter and any other external examination
      of the books and accounts of the agency other than copies of the reports
      of any examinations made by the state comptroller.
    
        8.  The  board  of  the  agency shall appoint an audit committee. Such
      committee shall have responsibility to recommend to the board the hiring
      of a certified independent accounting firm for the agency, and  for  the
      direct  oversight  of  the performance of the audit by the firm hired by
      the board.
        9. Each certified independent public accounting firm that performs for
      the agency any audit required by this chapter shall timely report to the
      audit committee of such agency: (a) all critical accounting policies and
      practices  to  be  used;  (b)  all  alternative  treatments of financial
      information within generally accepted government audit  principles  that
      have  been  discussed  with  management  officials  of  such  authority,
      ramifications of the use of such alternative disclosures and treatments,
      and  the  treatment  preferred  by  the  certified  independent   public
      accounting  firm;  and (c) other material written communications between
      the certified independent public accounting firm and the  management  of
      the  agency,  such  as  the  management  letter  along with management's
      response or plan of corrective action, material  corrections  identified
      or schedule of unadjusted differences, where applicable.
        10.  The  certified  independent  public accounting firm providing the
      agency's annual independent audit  will  be  prohibited  from  providing
      audit  services  to  the respective agency if the lead (or coordinating)
      audit partner (having primary responsibility  for  the  audit),  or  the
      audit  partner  responsible for reviewing the audit, has performed audit
      services for the agency in each of the five previous fiscal years of the
      agency.
        11. The certified independent public accounting  firm  performing  the
      agency's  audit  shall  be  prohibited  from  performing  any  non-audit
      services  for  the  agency  contemporaneously  with  the  audit,  unless
      receiving  previous  written  approval by the audit committee including:
      (a) bookkeeping or other services related to the accounting  records  or
      financial  statements  of  the agency; (b) financial information systems
      design and implementation; (c) appraisal or valuation services, fairness
      opinions, or contribution-in-kind reports; (d) actuarial  services;  (e)
      internal  audit  outsourcing services; (f) management functions or human
      services; (g)  broker  or  dealer,  investment  advisor,  or  investment
      banking  services;  and (h) legal services and expert services unrelated
      to the audit.
        12. It shall  be  prohibited  for  any  certified  independent  public
      accounting firm to perform for the agency any audit service if the chief
      executive   officer,   comptroller,   chief   financial  officer,  chief
      accounting officer,  or  any  other  person  serving  in  an  equivalent
      position  for  the  agency,  was  employed by that certified independent
      public accounting firm and participated in any capacity in the audit  of
      the  agency  during  the  two  year  period  preceding  the  date of the
      initiation of the audit.
        13. Notwithstanding any other provision of  this  article,  the  state
      comptroller  may examine the books and accounts of the agency, including
      its  receipts,  disbursements,   contracts,   leases,   sinking   funds,
      investments and any other matters relating to its financial standing. In
      lieu  of such an examination, the state comptroller is hereby authorized
      to accept from the agency an  external  examination  of  its  books  and
      accounts made at the request of the agency.