[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6092162,"mediaKeyId","2856390-3c9b4017471d718e4621e01b6dcebb2b","parentId",2856390,"title","Audit finds procurement and timekeeping lapses at Albany County Airport Authority; $1.5M in airline incentives not documented to board","audioSeconds",1319,"startMs",1289000,"endMs",2608000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2856390-3c9b4017471d718e4621e01b6dcebb2b&start=1289&end=2608","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2856390-3c9b4017471d718e4621e01b6dcebb2b/thumbnail_1289000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6092162/Albany-County/New-York/Audit-finds-procurement-and-timekeeping-lapses-at-Albany-County-Airport-Authority-15M-in-airline-incentives-not-documented-to-board","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092162-e9b07b756251e0998b55850092e2b9cb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771170154&Signature=J6EpOPSsyAJY6OJczIv0SLmEelUXLUViFXiNxuCs2jxBbYUyzttAFn3y9XZWHr-MgDtKJlCXvJ0WcH1sOpcpux9xlFBNE3XAEs7dnxF0EDdveg3Bab~aii8CmYxBvb-p-KDwR~f75M1Es2R3gw9pB4~yqWXP-9ffFKphka8iVjVh6xR3zsvlntQCBDVzS6vYIZNo1BbHsTh-NuO1OUBMEMoAxk8YtWH1LuN44zs1fU71~2BQxswYy76hewhwYzVQb5oNKzthGe2lMKK50xBHZ~Q7a69kV2UHMSgkPR8Kf8f~KtWpLX9GQ94K7nQ5fLhVk464479lki~pNZNUNKJjUA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Albany County Legislature","date","2025-04-01T00:00:00Z","article","Tom Smith, a partner at EFPR (the accounting firm engaged by the Albany County Airport Authority), presented the results of a compliance review covering procurement and time-and-attendance records from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2024.

Smith summarized four principal findings: the former CEO approved purchases without board approval; several payments were broken into smaller disbursements to avoid a $50,000 board-approval threshold; airline incentive credits totaling approximately $1,500,000 across the review period lacked documented board approval; and a sample of time-and-attendance records showed irregularities tied to manual logins and logouts.

Procurement: Smith said the authority’s procurement policy (required by New York public-authority law) sets a $50,000 threshold for CEO-plus-board approval. Smith’s review of samples and the highest-dollar vendors found some vendors had valid contracts, but the auditors identified multiple payments over $50,000 that lacked board approval and several instances where payments to the same vendor were split into smaller transactions that individually fell under the threshold. Examples cited in the presentation included payments to Dustbusters Cleaning, CRISO Demolition, Flooring Environmental Corporation and change orders to AJ Sprinkler that pushed totals over the $50,000 threshold without recorded subsequent board approval.

Smith also flagged a series of payments to a landscaping vendor, M and K Greenhouses, where three consecutive payments in one year aggregated to above $50,000; the auditor characterized those as split payments that should have been approved in aggregate. The review further noted roughly $78,000 in payments to the Millionaire jet center for client amenities where competitive quotes were not documented, and about $13,000 to a vendor for fir trees planted near the terminal where the auditors could not find required competitive quotes.

Incentives: The auditors said airline incentive programs operating across 2021–24 were not documented as having board approval in the material they reviewed. Smith said the credits paid to airlines across the period totaled about $1,500,000. At the meeting, CEO Peter Studo told committee members that the board had recently (\"either a month or 2 ago,\" he said) voted on a comprehensive incentive program and that Breeze Airlines had submitted an application that would be forwarded to the board for approval before implementation. Smith told the committee the incentives appear as credits that reduce money owed to the authority rather than as outward cash payments, meaning they did not strictly fall under procurement payments; nevertheless, he recommended clearer board review and documentation.

Time and attendance: Smith reported that during the review period the authority allowed employees to record up to three hours per day as off-site (coded as COVID or work off-site), leaving five hours as on-site time (about 37.5% off-site). The audit selected five employees with the highest proportion of off-site time for detailed testing. Using parking-garage exit records compared with time logs, the auditors found discrepancies in on-site presence: in 2022 the mismatch rate ranged widely (Smith reported 31% to 74% on the bottom and top of the sample range), improving in later years. The audit also documented frequent use of a manual login/log‑out option in the timekeeping system (a supervisor or administrative user could enter or correct entries), and Smith said manual logouts were particularly common — in the high end of the sample as much as 56% of days examined. In one case the auditors identified 19 instances where a manual log-out was recorded at 2:00 p.m. while garage records showed the employee left at or before noon.

Recommendations and response: Smith recommended steps to tighten procurement and attendance controls: require board approval for change orders, maintain a vendor register marking which vendors have required competitive quotes and approvals, log and monitor manual logins and logouts, and download and archive timekeeping system reports monthly to preserve historical records. Smith said management is already implementing several of the recommendations. The authority also noted one emergency purchase over $50,000 during the period that had subsequent board approval.

When asked whether the auditors had interviewed former executives, Smith said EFPR did not contact former employees as part of the engagement; the firm confined its procedures to documentation and factual records such as invoices, purchase requisitions, parking logs and time entries. He emphasized that the engagement reported facts from the sampled records rather than assigning motive or alleging criminal conduct.

Committee members described the findings as governance problems that warrant follow-up. The auditor and the authority said they would provide additional report details to the Legislature on request and the authority said it will bring future incentive applications to the board for approval.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Albany Law Committee & Multimodal Transit and Pedestrian Access Committee Meeting - April 1, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Tom Smith of accounting firm EFPR told the joint committee that a compliance review of the Albany County Airport Authority identified purchases approved without board sign-off, split invoices that avoided a $50,000 approval threshold, roughly $1.5 million in airline incentive credits without documented board approval and timekeeping irregularities tied to manual logins and parking-record mismatches.","taxTitle","Albany County, New York","taxId",3730,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6092165,"Albany County Airport Authority details $126 million terminal expansion, targets phased openings through early 2026",913,98000,1011000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2856390-3c9b4017471d718e4621e01b6dcebb2b&start=98&end=1011","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2856390-3c9b4017471d718e4621e01b6dcebb2b/thumbnail_98000.jpg","/articles/6092165/Albany-County/New-York/Albany-County-Airport-Authority-details-126-million-terminal-expansion-targets-phased-openings-through-early-2026","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6092165-edc775f86d03cbff5a6786b8a8b32334/orig.mp4?Expires=1771170154&Signature=kJKCgnBniI03Dy1HakxNGZn8Iu2pLugWV97rngVuBkxkPzTJh6pgwgYjaGzvceZ0mIhwOLlg1Ea-MkEMd6ghneKaWhccxznw0wx-SLcQRmDInfcoPvBtRcEqfxK-5oEQD-Szd0E3EAg3734tnzfpq2-zExP4PJ72VYQ~EXjIZ7hvjuD~Ny83-a~UX5xVHAY4wMe5p0L7g~XKEyrtxoW0lQZzOuWieUlW45Jb5K~tDXpO2toEdmtHpdeFpRJSLavs9wUnBPeROs1ee8QdG3Om5VBjnIepjH3PP40D7NpP6h52mtbUcIVYh-KPZf4okhGWVzKY3yw-B-sVCAGflZTknw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Peter Studo, chief executive officer of the Albany County Airport Authority, told the Legislature’s joint Law and Multimodal Transportation and Pedestrian Access committees that the authority is carrying out a roughly $100 million terminal improvement program and a separate $26 million Concourse A rehabilitation that together will add new gates and expand the airport’s passenger facilities.

The projects include a new connector building or departure hall — about 14,000 square feet — expanded TSA queuing with a seventh security lane, restrooms in the departure hall, a children’s playroom with a neurosensory room, a business center, an art gallery and two new gates at Concourse A. Studo said the authority is targeting phased openings and a final completion timeline of early 2026.

The improvements are being delivered while the airport remains in service, which the authority calls its principal scheduling challenge. “The project is complex,” Studo said. The authority described the work as a staged renovation so passengers can use completed elements rather than waiting for a single grand opening; the first phase, the authority said, is substantially complete and includes the children’s play area and business center.

Why this matters: the work changes the space where travelers queue and pass through security and is intended to speed processing, add passenger amenities and attract new airlines. The authority said the design choices — from art installations to exposed brickwork — aim to provide regional character while meeting operational needs.

Studo and the authority described measures intended to reduce cost and limit passenger disruption. The authority said it has identified more than $2 million in savings through value engineering, including substituting an expensive lighting element with artwork and revising bollard and signage plans. Concourse A work, which the authority said is funded mainly from airport funds and Federal Aviation Administration grants, will infill an old escalator opening to gain floor area and install two new jet bridges.

The authority said the construction workforce is unionized under a project labor agreement and includes trade crews, contractor management and in-house engineers. Studo declined to give a fixed daily headcount but said the number of workers varies by phase and day. He said most work is currently scheduled during daytime hours and that crews generally are not working overnight.

Committee members asked about accessibility and passenger circulation. Studo said the children’s area and departure hall will be served by stairs, escalators and elevators. On concerns about local character, committee members pressed the authority to ensure the renovated terminal signals “this is Albany” through signage and artwork; Studo said the authority has tried to preserve exposed red brick and is evaluating an exterior signage package if savings permit.

Funding and schedule: Studo said the authority hopes for approximately 1.5 million enplanements this year and described the total passenger flow as more than 3 million people (arrivals, departures and accompanying visitors) as context for the scope of work. He reiterated the authority’s goal to substantially complete the program by early 2026 and noted intermediate milestones and soft openings for concessions, including an Uncommon Grounds bagel shop planning a soft opening at the end of the month and a formal invitation to county leadership in early May.

The presentation included visuals of concrete pours, curtain-wall mockups and artist concepts developed with the Wild Center in Tupper Lake and the New York State Museum; artists cited included Ruby Palmer and sculptor Grace Lee Lawrence. The authority said it will continue to evaluate project sequencing to reduce passenger disruption and will continue briefings with county and legislative leadership.

Questions about maintenance items adjacent to the terminal also came up: a committee member asked whether cleaning or façade work on the older north garage was part of the current contract; Studo said cleaning is not funded through the terminal project but is on the authority’s spring–summer agenda.

\"We believe we have a competent team,\" Studo said of the project staff and construction managers overseeing the work. \"…we are going to be making savings of over $2,000,000.\" He described John O'Donnell, the authority’s chief operating officer, as the on-site engineering lead who oversees construction activities.

Looking ahead, the authority plans phased openings of finished areas, continued coordination with TSA and concessionaires, and further updates to the Legislature as construction proceeds.","Albany County Airport Authority CEO Peter Studo outlined a $100 million terminal improvement program and a $26 million Concourse A rehabilitation that add new gates, a larger departure hall and family amenities; authority says work will remain active while the terminal operates and expects phased openings ahead of an early-2026 finish.","actionData","errors"]

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Audit finds procurement and timekeeping lapses at Albany County Airport Authority; $1.5M in airline incentives not documented to board

Albany County Airport Authority details $126 million terminal expansion, targets phased openings through early 2026