State: Rensselaer County IDA website info inadequate

TROY – A state audit found the Rensselaer County Industrial Development Agency failed to post required information about its activities on its website for the public to review.

The state Authorities Budget Office review showed the IDA failed to meet posting requirements in 23 of the 30 categories. In nine of the 23 subjects, documents were posted but were out-of-date. Four of the seven topics in which the IDA had up-to-date information, the materials were either hard to locate on the website or incomplete.

“Our review focused on data for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. We have concluded that the Authority has not made certain required information available on its web site,” Jeffry Pearlman, the ABO director, wrote in an April 23 letter to IDA Executive Director Robert Pasinella.

The ABO performed its review of the IDA website on April 10.  Items missing from the website included the code of ethics, mission statement, by-laws, personal and property transactions, investment policies, fee schedules and performance measures.

Out-of-date information on the site includes the list of IDA board members, the operations and accomplishments report, the audit results and list of IDA projects. The most recent reports on these items were from 2016.

Pasinella said Thursday the IDA's annual reports for 2017 were approved at the IDA board’s April 12 meeting and will be posted.

Some of the information listed as missing, such as the mission statement, were previously posted, Pasinella said.  When the IDA website was moved to a new server by county staff, information that was on the site was lost in the transition, Pasinella said.

The IDA has received the ABO report and is reviewing it, Pasinella said.

The ABO gave the IDA until May 24 to respond to the concerns raised by the website review.