The state Comptroller's Office is auditing Mount Vernon, where details of the city's finances have been murky for at least the past two years and infighting continues between city Comptroller Deborah Reynolds and most officials.

The audit was announced in a letter to the City Council on Wednesday from Lisa Reynolds, the chief examiner of the state agency's Local Government and School Accountability division.

The audit will focus on the city's internal controls, which generally refers to how public funds are spent, whether city expenditures comply with local and state laws and how financial records are kept.

Planning for the audit is still ongoing so the exact years that will be covered has not yet been determined.

Reynolds' initial response to the audit was that it was not of the city but of the school district, despite clear language in the letter that it was an audit of the City of Mount Vernon. She maintained that position for a few hours, finally questioning why the letter was sent to the council and not her. Once she had confirmed with the state that the city would be audited, she said she welcomed the review.

Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and Council President Lisa Copeland hailed the news of the audit, with both citing Reynolds for a lack of transparency that Copeland called "alarming.".

"Time's up for fiscal mismanagement and corruption," Patterson-Howard said in a statement. "We have grave concerns about the lack of transparency and cooperation from the Mount Vernon Comptroller's Office."

The mayor, who arrived in City Hall just seven weeks ago, said at a recent public hearing on the city budget that she was reaching out to the state comptroller's office, the Attorney General's Office and the Westchester District Attorney's Office to look into the city finance department under Reynolds' leadership.

She complained about state money being "left on the table" by Reynolds for paving of city streets and police programs and questioned why the comptroller has left the deputy comptroller's job vacant for two years. The two traded accusations about why audits have not been completed for the Urban Renewal Agency from as far back as 2016. The lack of the audits caused Moody's to strip the city of its credit rating last year, blocking Mount Vernon from borrowing money ever since.

The comptroller, a former city councilwoman, fought bitterly with then-Mayor Richard Thomas from the time she took office in January 2018. His administration frequently complained about the bills she was not paying and her obstructionist nature. She responded that proper procedures were not followed and the administration was overspending budget lines and demanding payments for vendors that had not been properly hired. The two sued each other on several occasions.

All the while, and continuing to this day, she has not made records of city finances available to elected officials, commissioners or the public.

A spokeswoman for the state Comptroller's Office would only confirm the audit was taking place, saying it was the office's policy not to discuss an audit's specifics while it is underway.

Twitter: @jonbandler