Karen A. Prendergast is a Certified Public Accountant and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the Erie County Water Authority. In this capacity she oversees the Authority’s financial operations, including an operating budget of approximately $53.8 million and a capital budget of $41.6 million. In the absence of an Executive Director, Ms. Prendergast also serves as the Acting Chief Operating Officer.
Ms. Prendergast began her career at the Authority in 1992 as its first Manager of Audits in the Finance Department. She subsequently held the positions of Assistant Manager of Accounting Services and Manager of Accounting Services. She advanced through the Finance Department to become the Comptroller, a position she held for nine years.
As Comptroller of the Authority, Ms. Prendergast was responsible for the fiscal affairs of the Authority including consulting on investments, bond issues, budgeting issues, rate setting and financial trends. She oversaw the Finance Department and was responsible for preparing annual financial statements, budgets, the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and supervising employees in the department. In addition, she prepared monthly financial reporting and variance analysis, and evaluated the impact of and implementing Governmental Accounting Board standards (GASB) statements.
Prior to her employment at the Authority, Ms. Prendergast worked as an operations manager in the banking industry. Ms. Prendergast has a B.S. in Business Administration, Registered Accounting Program from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
