SYRACUSE -- Don't expect to visit the Heroes and Legends Café at the State Fair this summer. The State Comptroller's Department did not renew its contract for the fair this year due to a recent audit that finds the Café wasn't properly reporting all of its sales.
If you bought food at the Café at the State Fair last year, a portion of the money you spend was supposed to go to the state.
But a new audit by the Office of the State Comptroller finds that didn't always happen. Click here to read the full report.
The audit finds the Heroes and Legends Café was not accurately recording sales. Auditors made 11 purchases at the Café and found 4 of them were not rung through the register. The audit also shows unannounced cash counts revealed register drawers had more cash on hand than sales recorded on register tapes.
Auditors say this should serve as a strong warning for Fair management and reveals there needs to be better monitoring of vendors' cashiering operations.
The report also finds sponsor signs aren't always being removed when their contracts expire. In fact, 17 signs were still in place which should have been removed prior to the 2010 Fair. For the 12 other signs, there was an active contract with the sponsors, but the signs were not part of the agreement. If the signs were paid for, the state could have collected an additional $42,500 in revenue.
The State Comptroller's Officials say Fair officials have taken steps to implement changes in light of the report.
