One in six New York towns had not filed a required financial report for 2025 as of June 30, leaving residents without a current public accounting of town finances, according to a September report from the state comptroller’s office. The 159 towns serve about 1 million people and levied approximately $389.2 million in property taxes.
The Finger Lakes had eight nonfiling towns with a combined 2025 tax levy of $8.4 million. A separate review of 18 towns across the state included Sodus, where the most recent annual financial report on file was for 2021 as of Feb. 27, 2026, the comptroller’s office found.
What towns are required to report
Annual financial reports summarize a town’s revenue, spending, debt, fund balance and cash reserves. State law requires towns to file them with the Office of the State Comptroller within 60 to 120 days after the end of the fiscal year, depending on population. The reports must also be made available to the public.
Of New York’s 933 towns, 593 filed their 2025 reports on time, 181 filed late and 159 had not filed by June 30, the report said. The share filing on time rose from 50% for fiscal year 2022 to 64% for 2025. But the number that had not filed by June 30 of the following year changed little, from 156 for 2022 to 159 for 2025.
Seventeen towns failed to file a report for each fiscal year from 2022 through 2025. The report lists Cato and Palermo in Central New York among those persistent nonfilers.
What reviewers found in Sodus
The comptroller’s office selected 18 towns across nine regions for a closer review of their 2024 reporting and financial oversight. The group was selected for review and should not be treated as representative of all New York towns.
Sodus was the only Finger Lakes town identified in that review. The report lists the town’s 2025 operating budget at approximately $3.9 million and its tax levy at approximately $1.5 million. Reviewers found that Sodus had not maintained up-to-date accounting records and found no evidence that its board had conducted an annual audit of fiscal year 2024 records. The report’s listing of 2021 as the last filed report reflects its Feb. 27, 2026, review date; it does not establish Sodus’ current filing status.
Across the 18 selected towns, 12 had not filed their 2024 annual financial reports, five filed late and one filed on time. Officials most often cited other priorities for the chief fiscal officer or incomplete financial records when explaining late or missing reports. They also cited vacancies, turnover and a need for training or technical help.
Records and board oversight
Reviewers found incomplete or outdated accounting records in eight of the 18 towns. In one, differences between adjusted bank balances and accounting records ranged from $1.1 million to $4.9 million across three accounts. In another, balance sheets included $165,250 in incorrect liabilities and $1.2 million in misclassified fund balances.
In five towns, employees were not paid at rates approved by their boards, resulting in $21,143 in potential overpayments to 13 employees during 2024, the report said. Only two of the 18 towns provided their boards with complete, up-to-date financial reports. The others provided incomplete or partial reports, or none.
The report also found no evidence of an annual audit of 2024 records in 15 of the 18 towns. Officials most commonly said board members did not know they should conduct or arrange an audit. Three other towns reported audit activity, but their boards kept no documentation detailing what was reviewed or tested and the results.
Thirteen of the 18 towns raised property taxes between 2023 and 2025, with increases ranging from 1% to 10%. Eight raised their levies by more than 5%. The comptroller’s office said gaps in financial information limited officials’ ability to judge whether tax increases were needed; the review did not determine that any particular increase was unnecessary.
The comptroller’s office said its outreach helped secure 2024 financial reports from 281 towns between March 2025 and July 2026. It urged town boards to ensure reports are filed, keep financial information available to the public and carry out annual reviews of town records. The office noted that its targeted review was not an audit conducted under generally accepted government auditing standards.
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