A State Comptroller's audit of six fire districts found "significant disparities" in the amount of money each spent on travel, inspection dinners and other administrative costs over a nearly two-year period. Auditors found that some of the districts spent significantly more for hotel and food costs for individuals attending conferences than appeared necessary.

The audit, which was released last week, examined administrative and travel expenses at the Syosset, Manhasset-Lakeville, West Islip, West Sayville-Oakdale, Barnard (Monroe County) and Spencerport (Monroe County) Fire Districts.

The Syosset Fire District, according to Giovanni Graceffa, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, has completed voluntary, independent audits of district spending, which found no misuse of funds.

Fire districts, which are governed separately from the municipalities in which they are located, have the power to levy property taxes and borrow funds. There are approximately 865 fire districts in New York State with total revenues of about $569 million annually in 2005.

According to the comptroller's audit, the fire districts were selected for the audit based on their size and because they each had drill teams. A drill team is comprised of firefighters who compete against other firefighters in different events, such as ladder climbing, water spraying and vehicle competitions.

State law allows for fire districts to have a drill team. "We were prudent enough in 2006 to tell the chief's office that we didn't feel they had enough members to justify a motorized tournament team," said Graceffa, who said that they do encourage the tournament team to run "old fashioned style," which means no racing cars or motorized equipment and no expenses.

State auditors say they have uncovered a number of "troubling details" over the years regarding spending at many fire districts in the state. New laws passed in 2006 address several of these pervasive problems. For instance, the laws require fire districts to hold annual budget hearings, impose travel restrictions, establish requirements for creating capital reserve funds; and require larger fire districts to get annual independent financial audits. Fire district commissioners are also required to get management training.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli just released a model code of ethics for fire districts. The model code helps fire districts develop their own policy, which they must adopt by June 2007, on issues such as use of property, conflicts of interest, disclosure of financial interests and holding of investments.

"Firefighters put themselves in harm's way to provide a vital service to New Yorkers, and they deserve to have the necessary training and equipment to protect them while on the job," DiNapoli said. "Unfortunately, our audits have found that too many fire districts are not doing a good job managing the public's money. All those who administer taxpayer dollars, including fire district officials, must ensure that those funds are spent prudently."

One section of the audit examined spending in regard to installation dinners. "Although New York State is silent as to who may attend installation dinners, fire districts should only invite those individuals who enhance the purpose of the events," the audit states and maintains that the number of people in attendance should be double the number of volunteers.

Syosset is included in the audit as having 120 volunteers and thus should have had 240 people in attendance. "The district paid for 275 and 280 meals in 2005 and 2006 respectively," according to the audit.

"The dinner is our way of recognizing the efforts of volunteer fire fighters and EMS for what they do throughout the year," said Graceffa. "We swear in new chiefs and new officers and recognize those who went above and beyond the call of duty. This is also an opportunity for us to bring in local elected officials so they too can enjoy the event, acknowledge the new chief and establish a working relationship. We also invite the district employees, who take care of the equipment and make sure it is ready for the volunteers."

Another area that the audit examined was travel. The audit states that, "auditors found significant differences in how much each fire district spent on travel for individuals attending conferences. For instance, West Islip paid as much as $48 more each night for hotel rooms than Syosset at the same conference in July 2005. Auditors found that four of the six districts exceeded federal per-diem reimbursement rates for lodging in 73 percent of the instances reviewed and meal reimbursement rates 62 percent of the time. West Sayville-Oakdale paid as much as $343 a night for lodging in Las Vegas when the federal reimbursement rate was $106. Syosset allowed members $125 a day for food, while Manhasset-Lakeville limited meal expenses to $70 a day and Spencerport followed federal per diem guidelines."

The audit used the United States General Service Administration (GSA) rates as criteria to evaluate the reasonableness of expenditures relating to district conference/training travel.

According to Graceffa, the district does try and book hotels in accordance with the GSA rate, but that is not always possible and booking hotels at those rates sometimes means extra charges including renting a car to get to seminars, for example.

"These members, who are taking time from their employment to go to training seminars or conventions should not have to go into their pockets as they are doing something to make themselves a bigger asset to the community. They should not have to pay the difference between the GSA rate and the actual rate. The GSA rate is a guideline," said Graceffa.

Another category included in the audit was refreshments. "None of the districts had policies on when it was appropriate to provide refreshments for board meetings and other events. Auditors found a wide disparity in the amount spent on refreshments. For example Syosset spent about $74,000 for 124 functions, while Spencerport spent only $165 total."

The category "refreshments" includes water, Gatorade, meals after fires, meals for standbys, plastic utensils, plates, cups, coffee service, soda systems, milk and hot chocolate, as some examples, according to Graceffa. This amount also includes food for the members' families when there is a wake or funeral and also for some department functions. "At least half of the $75,000 was for supplies and $35,000 was for food," said Graceffa.

Graceffa emphasized that everything they do is for the membership. "This audit is a direct attack on what districts do for their membership," he said. "While there are guidelines for types of expenditures, there are no set guidelines for these expenditures which vary widely across the state. They are best left to the discretion of each local district. We feel we have a sound fiscal plan and provide the volunteers the access to training and benefits they deserve while being very cognizant of our fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayer."

Auditors recommended that the fire commissioners of the districts adopt policies for meal and lodging expenses that establish reasonable daily amounts, recover any inappropriate expenses that were paid, adopt policies for appropriate expenses for inspection dinners, and examine the benefit of having a competitive drill team. In responding to the audit, some fire districts said they would improve their policies, while others had some disagreements with the auditors' recommendations.

The audit contains an appendix that includes anonymous comments from five of the six fire districts audited. Syosset submitted a 9-page response to the audit, that they wanted included in the audit in its entirety, but as of press time it was not included.

To view the full audit, visit http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/swr/2006ms4.pdf