Finance Department
Mission Statement
The Department of Finance is established by Article V of the Broome County Charter. The Commissioner of Finance is the County’s Chief Fiscal Officer. The department is responsible for accurate and complete accounting and reporting of County financial operations in conformance with current governmental Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The office as the County Treasury, receives County funds and seeks to maximize earnings on them. The department coordinates the biweekly employee payroll process and prepares necessary State and Federal tax and employment filings. Tax receivable accounts are also maintained.
Description
The Finance Department prepares the County’s financial reports. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and the Annual Update Document required by the State Comptroller are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The department works extensively with external auditors and prepares revised reports as necessary.
The department enters data into the County’s accounting system. This includes all accounting journal entries, voucher payments to vendors, encumbrances for goods and services provided by vendors, and budgetary transactions affecting County appropriations and estimated revenues.
The Town and County real property tax warrants and bills are prepared annually. Information needed for their preparation is gathered from various sources. Legislative resolutions are drafted and submitted for approval to the Broome County Legislature.
Certain agreements between local businesses and the Broome County Industrial Development Agency require Payments in Lieu of taxes by the businesses. The Finance Department computes charges based on these agreements and prepares billings.
Town tax collectors’ warrants expire in April and school and village warrants expire in November. Upon expiration of the warrants, the County becomes the receiver of taxes. Amounts of unpaid school and village taxes are returned annually to the County. These amounts are remitted to the school districts and villages the following April.
A property tax receivable database is maintained and reconciled to the County’s general ledger. The annual tax sale, foreclosure and auction are recorded by this department.
The department also receives and records State and Federal reimbursement for grant-in-aid and capital programs, departmental income transmittals, sales tax transmittals, mortgage tax transmittals, and proceeds from the issuance of debt.
Sales tax is received from New York State and distributed to local municipalities quarterly. Mortgage tax is received from the office of the County Clerk and distributed to local municipalities semi-annually. Mortgage tax reports are completed and filed with New York State.
Debt is issued by the Finance Department based on cash needs for County capital programs. An Official Statement is prepared and distributed in order to obtain the best interest rate. County debt is usually issued as competitively bid to attain the best interest rate. Computations to determine arbitrage earnings are performed and mandatory filings are completed and submitted to the federal government along with any required rebate payments.
Occupancy tax forms are mailed quarterly pursuant to Local Occupancy Tax Law. Receipts are made and delinquencies are pursued with the assistance of the County Attorney’s Office.
The Finance Department maintains County bank accounts using a pooled cash approach to cash management. Certain accounts are legally required to be segregated. The amount of cash which is not invested is minimized. Earnings are maximized within legally restricted investment alternatives. Third party agreements to maintain security for County funds are maintained with each depository.
The department coordinates the County’s payroll function. This coordination includes various reconciliations and computer system software maintenance. There also extensive interaction with departmental payroll staff on an ongoing basis.
While many revenue accounts presented in the department’s budget require various levels of administrative activities, only Administrative Fees (revenue subobject 0012) and Commissioner of Finance Fees (revenue subobject 0013) directly underwrite the department’s activities.
The Commissioner is also the Secretary/Treasurer of the Broome Tobacco Asset Corporation, maintaining the financial records and preparing the Corporation’s financial reports.
