Audit Objective
Did Nichols Joint Fire District (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) and officials use a competitive process to procure goods and services?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
Understanding the Audit
A board of fire commissioners and its officials should seek competition for goods and services to ensure the best value for taxpayers, prevent conflicts of interest and maintain public trust. Seeking competition also guards against favoritism, extravagance and fraud, while allowing interested vendors a fair and equal opportunity to compete.
The District purchased approximately $592,000 in goods and services during the audit period.
Audit Summary
The Board and District officials did not always use a competitive process to procure goods and services in accordance with statutory requirements set forth in New York State General Municipal Law (GML), the District’s procurement policy (Policy) or best practices. When officials do not solicit competition as required by GML and District policies, there is an increased risk that goods and services are not obtained at a favorable cost, free from favoritism or for appropriate purchases. Adhering to GML and the Policy enhances public confidence in the procurement process and ultimately serves the best interests of taxpayers.
The Board did not:
- Adhere to the piggybacking exception or obtain competitive bids for two purchases totaling $319,945 as set forth in GML and the Policy.
- Issue requests for proposals (RFPs) or use any other competitive process before procuring professional services from two vendors totaling $38,873.
- Obtain quotes for seven purchases totaling $27,810, as required by the Policy.
- Seek competition for fuel purchases, which may have saved the District $3,626 over the audit period.
The report includes six recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the District’s procurement process. District officials disagreed with certain aspects of our findings, but indicated they plan to initiate corrective action. See Appendix C for our comments on the District’s response.
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 GML. Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix D.
The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. Pursuant to Section 181-b of New York State Town Law (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.