Missing Stamps, Diverted Funds, and $4.2M Unreconciled: The State’s Shocking Wappingers Falls Audit Update
If you have followed ny FB group you know I’ve repeatedly questioned our local government’s lack of transparency and fiscal oversight. The NY State Comptroller’s newly released June 2026 report just validated every single one of those concerns. The state warns that our assets aren’t safeguarded and financial risk is high—which begs the question: how can this board vote on taking over water finances when they haven’t fixed the massive breakdowns the state flagged over two years ago?
The New York State Office of the Comptroller has officially released its follow-up review regarding the financial management of the Village of Wappingers Falls. As previously noted, the state checked on the Village’s progress in fixing the massive internal control breakdowns first identified back in December 2023.
The state’s conclusion is deeply concerning: Our Village officials have not made substantial progress. Out of 13 critical recommendations, 11 were completely ignored and only 2 were partially implemented.
Because we rely on our property taxes to fund daily essential services, everyone in the village deserves to know exactly what the state uncovered. Here are the key findings from the official report:
High Risk of Unmonitored Funds & Missing Signature Stamp
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No Bank Reconciliations: The Treasurer’s office admitted that the last completed bank reconciliation was done in 2021. For years, the Village has failed to compare bank statements against its own accounting system, leaving over $4.2 million across 27 bank accounts vulnerable to undetected errors or unauthorized use.
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Missing Signature Stamp: Out of 22 bank transfers reviewed (totaling $2.4 million), 91% lacked proper approval. Shockingly, the state found that the Mayor’s signature stamp was manually applied to over $341,000 in wire transfers —but the Mayor admitted he did not keep custody of his own signature stamp and could not locate it during the review.
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Unrecorded Millions: The Village’s accounting records are severely inaccurate because the Treasurers failed to perform basic journal entries to record $6.4 million in water and sewer revenues.
Diverted Infrastructure Funds (The Dam Project)
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Back in December 2019, the Village took out $350,000 in Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) meant specifically to repair the Village dam.
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More than six years later, the dam repairs have never been started. Instead of returning those borrowed funds to the capital account, the money was diverted and used, in part, to cover two payments to the State Retirement System.
Total Lack of Financial Transparency & Communication
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Delinquent Financial Reports: As of February 2026, the Village has failed to file its Annual Financial Reports (AFRs) for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.
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Unanswered Warnings: The State Comptroller’s office attempted to call and email the Mayor multiple times between June and July 2025 to offer assistance with these delinquent filings. The Mayor never responded. When questioned by state officials, the Mayor stated that he “does not check his communications, and he is not at the Village Hall during the day.”
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No Annual Audits: The Board of Trustees has failed to conduct mandatory annual financial audits of the Treasurer’s records.
Constant Turnover in the Treasurer’s Office
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The state noted that a major factor hindering improvement is a lack of stability in the Chief Fiscal Officer position. Seven different individuals have cycled through the Village Treasurer position between 2020 and early 2026.
READ THE FULL AUDIT REPORT HERE: