Albany County Comptroller

Mission Statement

The Albany County Department of Audit and Control serves as the taxpayers’ independent fiscal watchdog. An independently-elected Comptroller leads the Department and she is the Chief Fiscal Officer of Albany County. The Department provides fiscal leadership, fiscal integrity, timely and accurate reporting and maintains public trust and accountability. The Department fulfills these responsibilities through audits, reviews, reports and investigations.

Who We Serve

The Department of Audit and Control, under the countywide-elected Comptroller, protects the taxpayers of Albany County assuring continued strong fiscal management with solid financial policies, practices and oversight.

About Our Department

The Department of Audit and Control is guided by the duties and responsibilities prescribed by Article 4 of the Albany County Charter and Article 14 of New York State County Law. The Comptroller provides general supervision over the fiscal affairs of the County and the Department’s activities include:

• Audits all claims, accounts and demands that are lawful County charges;
• Conducts audits of departments and programs, including biannual occupancy tax audits of all hotels and motels registered within Albany County;
• Keeps books and records showing all appropriations, funds and expenditures together with the name of the claimant and the amounts and nature thereof;
• Keeps and preserves all claims, accounts, and demands, numbers them consecutively and endorses thereon their allowance or disallowance in whole or in part, certifying as to the availability of funds;
• Administers all aspects of debt issuance on behalf of the County pursuant to the provisions of the local finance law;
• Procures bank statements from depositaries of County funds at least once a month and reconciles monthly with the books maintained by the Commissioner of the Department of Management and Budget;
• Audits the functions of the county departments and oversees the financial administration of capital projects; and
• The Comptroller’s Office works with the County Executive’s Office and the Legislature’s Office collectively and is transparent to the people of Albany County.