Audit Report on the Office Equipment Inventory Practices at the Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of the Council

Executive Summary

This audit of the New York City Office of the City Clerk and Clerk of the Council (City Clerk) was conducted to determine whether the City Clerk is complying with certain inventory procedures as set forth in the Department of Investigation’s (DOI) Standards for Inventory Control and Management and is maintaining effective internal controls over office equipment as required by New York City Comptroller’s Directive #1.

The City Clerk serves as both the Clerk of the City of New York and the Clerk of the Council.  Among other responsibilities, the City Clerk attests to the authenticity of leases and deeds of City property, grants, agreements, bonds, tax notes, and other forms of obligations of the City.  The City Clerk also maintains the City’s official papers and documents, including the Mayor’s executive and administrative orders and certificates of judicial appointments.

In addition, the City Clerk operates two separate bureaus: the Lobbying Bureau and the Marriage Bureau. The Lobbying Bureau is responsible for the enforcement of the City’s Lobbying Law, including the registration of lobbyists and the receipt of periodic reports from lobbyists on their lobbying activities, as well as the audit of those reports.  The Marriage Bureau provides marriage licenses, registers domestic partnerships, and conducts civil marriage ceremonies.  The City Clerk maintains an office in each of the five boroughs of the City.

Audit Findings and Conclusion

The City Clerk has segregated the duties for purchasing, receiving, and maintaining the inventory of office equipment among different staff members in accordance with Comptroller’s Directive #1,  which states that key duties and responsibilities need to be divided or segregated among different staff members to reduce the risk of error or fraud.  However, the City Clerk did not maintain complete and accurate inventory records for all office equipment as required by DOI’s Standards for Inventory Control and Management.  Thus, while we did not identify any items that were missing, we were not able to determine if anything was, in fact, missing since the inventory lists were incomplete.  Specifically, during our observations at the City Clerk’s offices, we identified 17 pieces of equipment that were not listed on the inventory records and 27 items that were listed without serial numbers or with incorrect serial numbers.  Based on the omissions and inaccuracies found in the inventory records, we conclude that there are risks of loss, misappropriation or theft.

In addition, we found that the City Clerk purchased five items of office equipment using incorrect object codes.  Furthermore, the City Clerk’s office purchased 11 new PCs at a time when it already had 4 unused new PCs in reserve-storage, and subsequently placed 5 of the 11 newly purchased PCs in storage as well, ultimately increasing the number of reserve PCs to 9.

Audit Recommendations

Based on the audit findings, we make the following four recommendations:

• The City Clerk should maintain complete and accurate records of all office equipment in accordance with DOI’s Standards for Inventory Control and Management and Comptroller’s Directive #1.
• The City Clerk should affix only one sequentially numbered property identification tag to each office equipment item.
• The City Clerk should purchase only items that are needed for its operations.
• The City Clerk should purchase all office equipment using the correct object code in accordance with Comptroller’s Directive #24: Agency Purchasing Procedures and Controls.

Agency Response

The City Clerk agreed with the report’s findings and recommendations and described steps it has taken or will take to implement the report’s recommendations.  Specifically, the City Clerk stated, “This office has reviewed the draft report and we accept the recommendations.”