The Broome County Industrial Development Agency lacked proper oversight while its officials violated internal policies and made questionable credit card purchases for travel, alcohol and other expenses during recent years, a new state watchdog audit revealed.
The New York State Authorities Budget Office (ABO), which aims to increase the accountability and transparency of state and local public authorities, released a report of its findings to state officials and lawmakers on Tuesday, June 2, evaluating the operations and management practices of the BCIDA and the Broome County Local Development Corporation (BCLDC) between January 2022 and the end of June 2025.
State investigators uncovered issues at the local agencies through analysis of various documentation, such as the organization’s policies and procedures, credit card statements and receipts and board meeting minutes. The audit findings included mileage reimbursement questions, business travel spending issues and personal use charges on the business credit card.
“The lack of board oversight, the failure to follow established internal policies, and the lack of a discretionary spending policy weakened internal controls, reduced transparency, and increased risk of inappropriate behavior,” the audit stated.
And while the BCIDA has already started making some changes in light of the audit’s findings, its officials asserted they “take exception to the way in which the (ABO’s) report presents information in a way that creates a negative perception about how the Agency operates,” and are “disappointed with the conclusions drawn” from the report, according to the audit.
Here’s a closer look at what the audit revealed.
How the Broome County IDA operates
The BCIDA, which was created in 1970, provides financial assistance to Broome County industrial and manufacturing facilities through tax abatements, low-interest loans and bond financing, It also markets properties for economic development in the county.
And the BCLDC, started decades later in 2011, provides grants and tax-exempt bond financing to these facilities. Collectively, they make up The Agency, though, legally, they are distinctly separate authorities.
According to The Agency, the two entities have helped drive nearly $80 million in new investments, generated $16 million in new tax revenue, supported 380 construction jobs and created 95 new jobs across the county within the past year.
Here’s who’s currently leading The Agency as of June 2, 2026:
The state audit report provided titles without including names, with its findings spanning from January 2022 through the end of June 2025. Duncan became executive director of the BCIDA in 2019.
Executive director’s use of business travel money
The Agency’s executive director receives an annual allowance of $6,000 for car and fuel expenses through an employment agreement. However, through the state review of the BCIDA’s financial records, they found the executive director received this maximum amount every year during the review period in addition to mileage reimbursement for business travel.
As a result, state investigators say the executive director collected an additional $3,752 in mileage reimbursement over two years, which wasn’t reviewed by the board’s chairman as required. The audit suggested the board conduct an internal review and “recover the costs … that were for personal use or resulted in the unjust enrichment of a specific individual or entity.”
In response to this finding, The Agency said “submitting mileage reimbursement claims for business travel is not prohibited as long as the annual cap is not exceeded.” They acknowledged an error had been made, however, and said “the practice stopped.”
Travel policy issues led to possible overspending
The BCIDA’s travel policy requires the board’s treasurer to establish per diem allowances, or a daily stipend to cover business travel expenses, and lodging caps for all travel-related expenses. According to the state audit, these weren’t created. The treasurer told state investigators they weren’t involved in any travel determination and assumed the staff followed the standard per diem rates used by the state and federal government.
Using the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) rates for lodging and meals for government employees’ business-related travel, the audit cited several examples of excess spending. Over the course of seven out-of-state trips taken by the executive director during the review period, that excess spending included more than $8,000 in out-of-state travel costs without documented authorization or justification, the audit stated.
Within five of those seven reviewed trips, more than $10,000 was spent on hotels. If the GSA rate was used, which is based on location and dates, only $3,350 would have been allowed for lodging, meaning the executive director potentially overspent by more than $6,600, according to the audit.
In its response, The Agency said it’s not required to establish the rates at the GSA’s maximum allowable rates but will “take corrective action to explicitly make clear that per-diem rates for lodging and meals cover the hotel or conference center where the event is being held.”
The Agency also added it would accept the state audit recommendation to have written approval of the executive director’s travel by the board’s chairman, who is required to approve it.
A travel reimbursement form with supporting documentation is also required to be submitted in order for a member to be reimbursed. Specifically, the executive director’s expense reports are required to be reviewed and approved by the board’s chair.
Instead, more than $13,000 in expense reimbursement reports submitted by the executive director during the review period, including a reduction of nearly $800 to “offset the personal use of the BCIDA credit card”, was signed by the director of operations without the board’s knowledge. Most of the expense reports were also incomplete and didn’t include supporting documentation, the audit report added.
“Although BCIDA has a control process in place and its policies do not require the Board to review and approve expense reimbursements of the Executive Director, BCIDA agrees that the process that was established in the Executive Director’s employment contract should be incorporated in the BCIDA’s policy,” The Agency said.
The Agency did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY Network request for comment on the audit’s findings, and local elected officials did not immediately provide comment on the matter when contacted June 2.
‘Questionable’ credit card purchases include expenses for non-IDA members and alcohol
During the timeframe of the review, the BCIDA did not have a dedicated policy to govern the use of its credit cards, but their travel policy limited what the cards could be used for during business travel and prevented them from being used for personal travel.
According to the audit’s reviewed sample of 932 BCIDA credit card transactions, 29 of them were used for personal expenditures made by the executive director and director of operations totaling more than $4,000. They were reimbursed through checks or a reduction of a personal expense reimbursement request, the audit report said.
One example includes a January 2025 trip to California made by the executive director. On this trip, purchases were made for a family member and were later reimbursed, the audit stated. The executive director also purchased a membership for the Binghamton University Forum in February 2025 for a non-BCIDA employee, which was reimbursed almost a year later once the state agency brought attention to it.
The audit also asserts the BCIDA used their credit card to purchase “significant amounts of alcohol.” According to the findings, the BCIDA spent $4,499 on alcohol between 2022 and 2025. The Agency pushed back, saying they’re not prohibited from purchasing alcohol, adding that mentioning these purchases is “pointless” and the purchases are equivalent to buying soda or iced tea.
In response, the state agency said it’s previously issued guidance is “making it clear that the purchase of alcohol with authority funds is not appropriate and should be prohibited.”
The BCIDA also has an internal control policy that requires a monthly report of all expenditures under $5,000 to be sent to the board for review as well as a semi-annual report of all purchases of $5,000 or more. According to the audit, this was not occurring and The Agency affirmed that.
“However, all purchases were discussed with the board and either directly approved by the board or were approved by virtue of the adopted budget,” The Agency’s response added. “Further, the Agency changed its internal controls policy to have the monthly and semi-annual reports go to the Treasurer, which will be implemented.”
A discretionary spending policy was also adopted by the BCIDA in March after being recommended by the ABO. Without one, the state agency said “employees lacked structured guidance on the use of authority funds, which increased the risk of inappropriate spending by BCIDA and its employees.”
Blurred lines between IDA and Chamber cause potential conflicts of interest
The audit also takes issue with a loaning agreement between the BCIDA, BCLDC and Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, which they say appears to be a potential conflict of interest. The BCIDA’s executive director has dually served as the Chamber’s president and chief executive officer since 2019 and, as a result, the Chamber is expected to pay the BCIDA 50% of the executive director’s yearly salary.
“By acting as the President and CEO of the Chamber, it is unclear how the BCIDA Executive Director could independently make decisions in the best interest of both boards, while meeting the mission of these separate corporate entities with separate and distinct purposes, operations and activities under the law,” the audit states.
Additionally, the BCIDA loaned other employees — financial comptroller, marketing and communications manager, administrative support specialist and executive assistant — to the Chamber without written agreements detailing their roles or reimbursement. Instead, the board gave the executive director permission to make those determinations, the audit noted.
“The loaning of BCIDA’s Executive Director and other BCIDA staff to the Chamber appears to have violated the (law),” the audit says. “In contrast to the private, member-focused powers of a chamber of commerce, an IDA is a public benefit corporation which is organized to benefit the state and its people.”
The Agency recognized that formal agreements should have been in place to keep time allocation records but says “the arrangement was reflected in the budget, payroll, and organization chart of the Agency.”
Nearly $20,000 in BCLDC and Chamber purchases were also made on the BCIDA credit card during the review period, according to the audit. More than $590 of that was not billed or reimbursed to the BCIDA, including $316 in airfare upgrades for a trip the executive director took to South Carolina and $279 for food and alcohol at a local Broome County restaurant, the audit added.
In response to the shared use of the BCIDA credit card, The Agency says it was used to “temporarily place purchases of the BCLDC and/or Chamber for operating convenience with the appropriate reconciliations and reimbursements being made” but “no BCIDA funds were ever used for BCLDC or Chamber purposes.”
The organization also stated it’s already gotten a separate credit card for the BCLDC.
“Without adequate financial oversight, the Board increased the risk that errors, misuse of funds, or noncompliance with applicable laws and policies would not be detected or addressed in a timely manner,” the audit states. “This problem was compounded by a failure of BCIDA’s management team to exercise sound judgment and apply appropriate financial controls as approved by the Board.”
Emily Barnes covers state government for the USA TODAY Network-New York with a focus on how policy and laws impact New Yorkers’ taxes, communities and jobs. Follow her on Instagram or X @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Broome IDA spending on travel, alcohol raises questions in state audit
Reporting by Emily Barnes, New York State Team / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
