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Audit Objective 

Determine whether the Hyde Park Fire and Water District (District) Board of Trustees (Board) procured capital assets, goods and services in a cost-effective and transparent manner.

Key Findings 

The Board did not always procure capital assets, goods and services in a cost-effective and transparent manner. Specifically, the Board did not: 

• Seek competition when entering into a contract to purchase a ladder truck for $1.9 million or maintain written support to demonstrate that the District properly used an exception to the competitive bidding requirements set forth in General Municipal Law (GML), Section 103(16) and the District’s procurement policy (Policy).
• Obtain quotes when purchasing six goods and services totaling $41,316 and did not request proposals for one professional service contract totaling $19,043, as required by the Policy.

Also, one Trustee did not publicly disclose, in writing, his interest in a contract when the District purchased property from a separately incorporated Fire Department (Department) for $160,000.

Key Recommendations 

• Comply with competitive bidding requirements and the Policy when making purchases, or maintain documentation when using an exception to competitive bidding requirements.
• Publicly disclose, in writing, interest in contracts when approving transactions between the District and the Department.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they plan to implement corrective action.