Town of Evans mishandled taxpayer money for over 3 years, audit says

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — In a new audit, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the Town of Evans mishandled tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the course of three years.

Between 2020 and 2023, money paid out to employees on leave wasn’t accurate, DiNapoli said. He’s now calling for immediate fixes to the town’s payroll system.

In a response, Town of Evans Councilman Michael Schraft said the audit is “only the tip of the iceberg.” He’s also concerned at the audit’s finding of a former town supervisor who gave herself benefits she wasn’t entitled to.

While she isn’t named, Mary Hosler served as the town’s supervisor during the period of the audit.

DiNapoli said he has recommended a resolution to perform an audit on all of the payroll tasks four separate times, but the majority of the current board voted against it.

He proposed for the board to create a nonpartisan finance committee to correct the audit’s findings.

The Evans Town Board said it’s working to make the fixes recommended by DiNapoli.

Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here .