[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Did the Eagle Mills Fire District No. 1 (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) monitor financial activity, ensure appropriate records were maintained and reports were filed in a timely manner?

Audit Period

January 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025

We expanded our scope back to January 1, 2019 to review the Annual Financial Reports (AFR) filing status and required annual audits.

Understanding the Audit Area

A board of fire commissioners must monitor financial activity to ensure public funds are managed with accountability, transparency and integrity. Complete, accurate and current accounting records and reports are essential for informed decision-making, legal compliance and accountability.

The District’s budgeted appropriations for fiscal year 2025 totaled $514,743.

Audit Summary

While our review of the accounting records did not observe any significant errors, the Board did not adequately monitor the District’s financial activity and did not ensure appropriate records were maintained and that AFRs,¹ detailed financial data reports, were created and filed in a timely manner. As a result, the risk of errors and irregularities occurring increases and the Board’s ability to assess the District’s financial activities was diminished. 

Specifically, we determined that:

• The District Secretary/Treasurer (Treasurer) did not record the District’s fiscal years 2024 and 2025 annual budgets into the central accounting system, necessary for generating statements of operations with budget-to-actual comparisons. The Treasurer also did not prepare and provide the Board with periodic financial reports including balance sheets and budget-to-actual reports. Without status reports, the Board cannot effectively monitor financial activity and budget performance or properly assess financial condition throughout the year, increasing the risk of errors and irregularities.
• The Board has not had the required annual independent audit of the District’s books since
  fiscal year 2018. In the absence of an annual audit, there is no independent verification that
  transactions have been properly recorded, and funds have been properly accounted for,
  diminishing the Board’s ability to assess the District’s financial activities.
• The Treasurer has not prepared or filed the fiscal year end 2019 through 2024 AFRs as required by New York State (NYS) General Municipal Law (GML) Section 30.² When AFRs are not filed in a timely manner, it results in diminished transparency and the Board, taxpayers, OSC and other interested parties are denied the ability to assess the District’s financial standing.

The report includes five recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the District’s fiscal
oversight. District officials generally agreed with our recommendations 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 GML. 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 (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.

1 An AFR captures a local government's (county, city, town, village and fire district) revenues and expenditures for the year as well as its cash reserves, fund balance, and outstanding debt at the end of the period. The AFR data informs local officials, residents, other taxpayers and NYS policymakers about the financial condition of New York's local governments.

2 More information on AFR nonfilers and the local government’s current AFR status can be found on OSC’s website at: https://web.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/afr-non-filers/.