Typeset from the PDF of the official document (read by OCR) — headings, motions and recorded votes are detected automatically, so spacing may differ from the original. The official copy governs.
Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency Audit Committee Meeting Minutes October 19, 2021 An Audit Committee meeting of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency was held on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, at the 333 West Washington Street, Syracuse, New York in the large conference room on the first floor.
Chairperson Janice Herzog called the meeting to order at 8:04 am with the following:
PRESENT:
Janice Herzog Susan Stanezyk Patrick Hogan
ALSO PRESENT:
Robert M. Petrovich, Executive Director Nancy Lowery, Secretary Nate Stevens, Treasurer Karen Doster, Recording Secretary, Agency Carolyn Evans-Dean, Onondaga County Economic Development Jeff Davis, Barclay Damon Law Firm APPROVAL OF AUDIT MEETING MINUTES — MARCH 9, 2021 Upon a motion by Patrick Hogan, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Audit Committee approved the minutes of the March 9, 2021 meeting. Motion was carried.
Upon a motion by Patrick Hogan, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Audit Committee approved a resolution to transmit the summary self-evaluation without comment to the Governance Committee for review and recommendation to the Board. Motion was carried.
Nancy Lowery stated there are no changes to the Committee Charter.
Upon a motion by Patrick Hogan, seconded by Susan Stanezyk, the OCIDA Audit Committee approved aresolution to transmit the Committee Charter without comment to the Governance Committee for review and recommendation to the Board. Motion was carried.
Nancy Lowery stated there were no changes Upon a motion by Patrick Hogan, seconded by Susan Stanczyk, the OCIDA Audit Committee approved a resolution to transmit the 2021 Committee Annual Report to the Governance Committee for review and recommendation to the Board. Motion was carried.
Mike Lisson gave a brief review of audit. He stated there are not a lot of major changes from audit professional standards that they need to be followed this current year. He stated slide | through 9 are very similar to past years. He stated the ABO has oversight responsibilities for OCIDA and this past year they issued regulation 21-01 which is basically guidance saying IDAs have to disclose a lot of information on the website. He stated in the past he worked with Nancy to make sure everything that is supposed to be disclosed on the website is there and he will look at that and make sure it is compliant. He stated it also includes things such as the UTEP policy and routine policies for OCIDA. He stated they continue to ask for more to make it easy for the public to see.
Janice Herzog asked if the documents will remain on the website consistently or do they come down. Mike Lisson stated best practices say 3-5 years. He stated the ABO has the same authority to say it should stay up there for 5 years unless the project is complete 100%. He stated there is terminology that says once it is complete and done you only leave it up for a short term afterwards. He stated projects done 25 years ago don’t necessarily need to be there because they are closed out and completed. Susan Stanczyk asked if they documents should be posted for the term of the PILOT. Mike Lisson stated yes and that could last a number of years.
Patrick Hogan asked if the municipal entities are aware of the PILOT. Mike Lisson stated he does audit work with the municipal entities and there should be a two sided street where OCIDA and the municipality are working together to make sure when the PILOTs end it is put back on the tax rolls under the current assessment. He stated OCIDA has done a good job communicating to the municipal entities but it has to be on both ends.
Patrick Hogan stated he worries about the institutional changes in the municipalities. Mike Lisson stated from an accounting standpoint, it doesn’t matter if it is a town village county or city, there are requirements to disclose the tax abatement types of arrangements. He stated it should be disclosed in their financial statements so they should be keeping better track of it. He stated when he does audits of municipal entities he reaches out to OCIDA to make sure the same information disclosed is disclosed properly. Mike Lisson stated one of the biggest things OCIDA has in their books and records is conduit debt obligations. He stated historically the Agency has disclosed that information and New York State requires you to have a schedule disclosing even more information. He stated there was not consistency in practice of accounting standards across the US. He stated the conduit debt stays off the books and is disclosed in the footnotes. He stated it requires a little bit more disclosure but since New York State always required a disclosure anyway, the Agency is pretty much already there but it is something adopted this year. He stated the Agency had $92,000,000 of outstanding debt as of last year. He stated staff keeps track of all this because it has to be disclosed in the footnotes, financial statements and reported to PAAA. Janice Herzog asked if that includes the pass throughs. Mike Lisson stated yes.
Upon a motion by Patrick Hogan, seconded by Susan Stanczyk, the OCIDA Audit Committee adjourned the meeting at 8:17 am. Motion was carried.
Toon dak , Nancy Kowery, Secretary)