DiNapoli to audit Long Beach summer operations

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office announced Thursday in a letter to Long Beach officials that it will audit  the city’s cash transactions for summer operations, a potential major source of revenue for the barrier island.

City Manager Jack Schnirman wrote the comptroller’s office in February requesting the audit. “As a new administration, we have serious and significant concerns regarding the city’s internal controls and cash controls, particularly as they relate to our summer seasonal activities,” he wrote.

Council president Fran Adelson said the audit means “help is on the way.” The letter came three days after city officials publicly announced a projected $10.25 million deficit for the current fiscal year.

Adelson said the state audit will help “assure the residents that we’re paying attention and looking at the revenue we take in for the summer.”

Schnirman said there had been  concerns in the past that  revenue from various summer operations wasn’t properly handled, but he would not go into detail. “There have been suspicions, but we’d like another set of eyes to verify,” he said. The audit could go back several years.

In the next few weeks, he said, auditors from the Division of Local Government and School Accountability will be reviewing the city’s receipts, journals, ledgers, bank statements and deposit slips and the way the city handles, safeguards and deposits cash.

According to the letter from chief examiner Ira McCracken, at the end of the audit, the state will provide recommendations to “help improve your city’s operations.”

Above: Long Beach boardwalk