Audit Objective
Did the Genesee Valley Fire Department, Inc. (Department) Treasurer properly deposit, disburse, record and report Department funds?
Audit Period
January 1, 2023 – September 22, 2025
Understanding the Audit Area
A fire department treasurer must properly deposit, disburse, record and report a fire department’s funds to ensure statutory compliance, financial accountability and the public’s trust. A lack of oversight can lead to mismanagement, fraud, a damaged reputation and jeopardize a fire department’s funding and its mission.
Effective January 2024, Department members elected the former Treasurer as the new Department President (current President) and a new Treasurer (current Treasurer) to fill the vacancy. These changes followed the former President’s departure in December 2023.
From January 1, 2023 through March 31, 2025, the Department deposited revenues totaling $140,285 and disbursed funds totaling $91,461.
Audit Summary
The Treasurers did not properly deposit, disburse, record and report Department funds.As a result, the Board of Directors (Board) lacked reliable information that was needed to manage the Department’s financial activities or determine whether all disbursements were for appropriate Department purposes. Furthermore, the Department has an increased risk of theft, waste and abuse of Department resources.
From January 1, 2023 through March 31, 2025, the Treasurers did not:
- Maintain adequate supporting documentation, such as deposit slips or issue required receipts, for all 59 deposits totaling $140,285.
- Record four deposits totaling $2,180 with correct dates or amounts in the computerized accounting software.
- Record 104 disbursements totaling $22,062 with correct vendor names in the computerized accounting software.
- Obtain any Board or membership approval for all 342 disbursements totaling $91,461 before the disbursements were paid.
- Provide written monthly or annual financial reports to the Board or membership.
- Prepare bank reconciliations.
- File the Department’s calendar year 2023 annual report on revenues and expenditures of foreign fire insurance (FFI) tax proceeds with the New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) accurately and in a timely manner. The former Treasurer filed the calendar year 2023 annual report with OSC in October 2024, more than seven months late, and underreported 2023 FFI tax proceeds by $1,513.
The report includes 13 recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Department’s Treasurer’s duties. Department officials generally agreed with the recommendations and indicated they will initiate corrective action.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (GML). Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. We encourage the Board to prepare a written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the recommendations in this report and forward it to our office within 90 days. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer to our brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. We encourage the Board to make the CAP available for public review.