Audit Objective
Did the Hancock Rural Fire District (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) adequately oversee financial operations of the District by ensuring contracts were complete, adopting required policies, attending the required training and auditing the Treasurer’s records annually?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – November 14, 2025
Understanding the Audit Area
A board of fire commissioners is responsible for overseeing the District’s financial operations. Effective oversight safeguards district assets, supports informed decision making, helps maintain public trust, ensures compliance with legal requirements and prevents mismanagement, waste and fraud.
A board should ensure contracts are complete and accurately reflect all agreed upon terms before approval to protect a district’s interests and promote transparency. A board should also adopt and periodically review required policies, such as procurement, investment and code of ethics to establish clear expectations, ensure compliance with applicable laws and provide guidance for financial operations.
Commissioners should complete required training to understand their fiscal responsibilities and strengthen their ability to oversee a district’s financial activities. In addition, a board should annually audit the treasurer’s records to verify that financial transactions are accurate, funds are properly accounted for and financial activities comply with applicable laws and board policies. Collectively, these governance practices strengthen internal controls, reduce the risk of errors, waste, fraud and abuse and help ensure a district’s financial operations are conducted with integrity and accountability.
The District has an annual contract with the Village for fire protection services and costs related to maintaining the firehouse. In 2025, the contract totaled $148,906 of the District’s total budgeted appropriations of $209,080.
Audit Summary
The Board did not provide adequate oversight of the District’s financial operations. As a result, contracts were incomplete, required policies were not adopted, Commissioners did not complete required fiscal oversight training and the Board did not annually audit the Treasurer’s records. These deficiencies reduced transparency and accountability and increased the risk of errors, waste, fraud and noncompliance with applicable laws.
Specifically, the Board did not:
- Ensure annual contracts included all agreed-upon financial terms or conduct a public hearing before approving and amending the fire protection contract, as required by New York State (NYS) Town Law (Town Law) Section 176.
- Develop and adopt required policies, including a procurement, investment and code of ethics policies, as required by NYS General Municipal Law (GML).
- Ensure all Commissioners completed required fiscal oversight training, as required by Town Law Section 176-e.
- Ensure the Treasurer submitted her records to the Board, in accordance with Town Law Section 177.
The audit report includes eight recommendations that, if implemented, will strengthen the Board’s oversight of the District’s financial operations by improving governance, enhancing compliance with statutory requirements, increasing transparency and accountability and reducing the risk of financial mismanagement. District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.
This audit was conducted pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC’s) authority as set forth in Article 3 of the GML. The audit’s methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.
The Board has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. Pursuant to Section 181-b of Town Law, a written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report must be prepared and forwarded to OSC 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 the CAP, please refer to the OSC brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which was provided with the draft audit report. The Board is encouraged to make the CAP available for public review.