Audit Objective
Did the Springfield Fire District (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) provide adequate oversight of the Treasurer’s accounting records and financial reports?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – February 19, 2026.
We extended the audit period back to February 1, 2023 to review Commissioners’ training certifications and forward to June 23, 2026 to review the status of Annual Financial Report (AFR) filings.
Understanding the Audit Area
The Board is responsible for overseeing the Treasurer's accounting records and financial reports to ensure the District's financial information is complete, accurate and reliable. Effective oversight helps safeguard public funds, supports informed financial decision making, ensures compliance with applicable laws and reporting requirements and promotes accountability, transparency and public trust. It also provides independent assurances that financial transactions are properly recorded, assets are safeguarded and errors, irregularities, mismanagement, waste or fraud are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
The District’s budgeted appropriations for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years were $119,500 and $182,629, respectively.
Audit Summary
The Board did not provide adequate oversight of the Treasurer’s accounting records and financial reports or ensure that all required AFRs were filed. As a result, the Board lacked assurance that the District’s accounting records and financial reports were accurate, financial operations were properly monitored and statutory reporting requirements were met. In addition, when AFRs are not filed, the Board, taxpayers, the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and other interested parties are prevented from obtaining timely and reliable information to assess the District’s financial condition.
Specifically, the Board did not:
- Ensure the accuracy of the Treasurer’s financial records and reports.
- Conduct an annual audit of the Treasurer’s records.
- Ensure all Commissioners completed the mandatory fiscal oversight training in a timely manner.
- Ensure that the Treasurer filed the District’s AFRs from 2021 through 2025, which remained unfiled at the end of our audit period.
This report includes seven recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Board’s oversight of the Treasurer’s accounting records and financial reports, improve accountability and transparency, enhance compliance with statutory requirements and provide the Board with more reliable financial information for decision making. 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 OSC’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (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 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 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.