Situation

The town of Greenburgh, New York – which encompasses six of Westchester County’s most affluent villages – uses the New York State town government model, which is different from a typical city council or mayoral system. The town board acts as the legislative body, while the town supervisor is effectively the chief financial officer and head of the administrative branch.

Greenburgh had been run by the same town supervisor for the past 35 years, but after employees began voicing their concerns, the board began to question his handling of the town’s financial matters.

Solution

The town issued a public RFP for an independent forensic investigation of its financial records and budgets, and for interviews with town personnel to gain an understanding of its budget procedures and financial controls. The RFP also included an evaluation of whether any internal control weaknesses impacted the town’s financial results.

The city selected Springline Advisory for its forensic accounting experience and skill set, and the team began evaluating financial records from 2020 through 2023.

The extensive investigation looked for fraud and financial mismanagement, including uncollected funds, unauthorized movement of funds, “plugs” to artificially reconcile unreconciled accounts (without actual funds for the “plugs”), or an artificially inflated fund balance.

Jim Marasco, managing partner, said the Springline team also needed to always be a good steward of the town’s money by balancing the scope of the project with the budget.

“You could spend an entire career looking under every rock and stone, but you have to make a judgment call on where you think the most risk is and then work with the parameters of the budget,” he said. “We’ve always been really good at meeting the expectations of what’s fair and reasonable from a budgetary constraint.”

Results

The Springline team completed its report, and in January 2026, the town board released the findings in a formal “Forensic and Financial Performance Review,” which explored the financial mismanagement uncovered by the audit:

• The town was owed $29.39 million in delinquent property taxes, as of Dec. 31, 2024.
• Funds totaling $39.5 million were earmarked for a new criminal justice complex, but the funds were deposited into the general fund, which meant only $7.4 million had been used for that specific project.
• A total of $3.1 million in water payments were overdue by at least 60 days, as well as nearly $125,000 in delinquent payment penalties.
• More than $3 million in outstanding parking ticket balances had not been paid.
• Twenty-four former employees were no longer working for the town but still had access to accounting programs and many had never been removed from payroll records.

The report also found inconsistencies between the approved budgets and the actual financial statements, as well as poor recordkeeping of emergency funds, outdated financial policies, and many internal control issues.

“A lot of politicians will try to put a Band-Aid on a gash because they don’t want it coming back on them,” Marasco said. “A lot of people pride themselves on not raising taxes, but meanwhile they’ve spent down every reserve dollar they have and deferred needed maintenance. I think this supervisor was about self-preservation.”

Marasco said this project was a good example of how the team excels at working with municipalities (as well as school districts and other public institutions) because they have the experience of knowing where to look and how to present the information.

“Just navigating through the whole political environment – and remaining neutral – is a skill in and of itself,” he said. “It’s our job to tell the story and put the puzzle together — and hopefully prevent it from reoccurring.”