Audit Objective
Did the Henderson Fire District (District) Board of Commissioners (Board) adequately monitor financial activities and ensure the Treasurer maintained appropriate records and reports?
Audit Period
January 1, 2023 – February 27, 2025
We extended the audit period to review the District’s 2019 through 2024 Annual Financial Report (AFR) filings as of August 20, 2025.
Understanding the Audit Area
To help ensure the District’s financial resources are properly safeguarded, the Board should ensure accurate accounting records are maintained to capture all transactions and monitor financial activities by reviewing bank reconciliations and financial reports, auditing and approving claims prior to payment and conducting annual audits of the Treasurer’s records and reports.
The District’s five-member Board is responsible for the general management and control of the District’s financial activities. The Treasurer serves as the District’s chief fiscal officer and is responsible for receiving and disbursing District funds, maintaining accurate financial records and providing periodic financial reports to the Board.
As of December 31, 2023, the District had four bank accounts with combined cash balances totaling $826,257. The District’s Board-adopted 2024 budget was $358,332 and primarily funded by real property taxes.
Audit Summary
The Board did not adequately monitor financial activities or ensure the Treasurer maintained appropriate records and reports. The Board’s lack of monitoring the Treasurer’s financial activities and conducting an annual audit of the Treasurer’s financial records impacted the Board’s ability to identify inaccurate accounting records and reports and address deficiencies sooner to ensure it received reliable information to make informed decisions for the District. In addition, a lack of adequate oversight and monitoring increases the risk of incomplete and inaccurate records and that funds could be lost or misappropriated without detection.
We determined the following:
- The Treasurer did not prepare accurate and timely bank reconciliations for the general fund checking account (checking account). After learning of our audit, the Treasurer prepared bank reconciliations for the checking account from January 2023 through March 2024. The Treasurer identified transactions that were not recorded, including 11 journal entries totaling $4,986 and four deposits totaling $1,952, for electronic payroll withdrawals, payroll wages and payroll taxes. Additionally, the Treasurer did not reconcile the three interest-bearing savings and money market accounts (interest-bearing accounts). As of December 31, 2023, the District had $170,684 (29 percent) more in these bank accounts than was reflected in the accounting records.
- The Treasurer’s accounting records included various unrecorded transactions and recording errors. For example, 10 disbursements totaling $21,925 were posted to incorrect accounts and five collections totaling $6,115 were deposited in a District bank account between August 2024 and October 2024 but not recorded in the accounting records.
- The Treasurer did not provide the Board with a detailed listing of all funds received and disbursed during the month or balance sheet reports. Additionally, the Treasurer began providing budget-to-actual reports to the Board in March 2024. We determined that the reports provided to the Board included several inaccuracies. For example, the June 2024 budget-to-actual report included $4,560 in project design expenditures, but the accounting records indicated that $11,205 had been expended.
- The Treasurer did not file AFRs with the New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) for 2019 through 2024. As of August 20, 2025, the outstanding AFRs were between 171 and 1,998 days late.
- The Board did not ensure that an annual audit of the Treasurer’s records was performed. The last audit of the Treasurer’s records was in 2019 when an external audit was last conducted.
- The Board did not ensure all claims were properly approved prior to payment and adequately supported. For example, 40 claims totaling $41,749 were improperly paid prior to Board approval, including claims for boat repairs, various credit card purchases (e.g., office supplies and a printer), entry and truck bay doors, and fire pumper equipment.
- Community room rental cash collections and cash donations totaling $1,062 were not remitted to the Treasurer for deposit or recorded in the Treasurer’s accounting records.
The report includes 28 recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the District’s financial operations. District officials agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action and their response is included in Appendix B.
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. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. Pursuant to Section 181-b of New York State Town Law, a written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report must be prepared and forwarded to our office within 90 days. To the extent practicable, implementation of the CAP must begin by the end of the next fiscal year. 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.