Audit Objective
Did the Woodhull Fire District (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) provide adequate oversight of financial operations?
Audit Period
January 1, 2024 – June 23, 2026
Understanding the Audit Area
A board of fire commissioners (board) is responsible for managing and controlling a fire district’s financial operations and must provide adequate oversight of the fire district’s financial activities to ensure that public funds are managed with accountability, transparency and integrity. This critical function helps maintain the public’s trust, comply with legal requirements and prevent waste, fraud and mismanagement of fire district resources.
From January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025,1 the District’s revenues totaled $654,579 and disbursements totaled $655,496.
Audit Summary
The Board did not provide adequate oversight of the District’s financial operations. As a result, the Board could not ensure that the records and reports that it used to make financial decisions were complete and accurate, which made it difficult for the Board to make informed decisions and adequately plan for future expenses.
The deficiencies that we identified included the following:
- The Board did not conduct an annual audit of the Secretary-Treasurer’s records as required by New York State Town Law (Town Law) Section 177.
- The Chairman of the Board (Chairman) and four other Commissioners had a limited understanding of their financial responsibilities. They also did not complete the mandatory fiscal oversight training as required by Town Law Section 176-e.
- The Board did not conduct a thorough and deliberate review and approval of claims before payment. We reviewed 55 payments made to vendors and determined that the Board did not adequately review 14 payments (25 percent) totaling $19,737.
- The Board did not develop and adopt written, multiyear financial and capital plans or a fund balance policy to assist them in planning for future costs, despite having significant future operating and capital needs.
Without proper guidance and management of operations, the Board and Secretary-Treasurer cannot assure taxpayers, District residents and other interested parties that the District’s financial activities are accurately accounted for and reported. Inadequate oversight of financial operations diminishes transparency and accountability and increases the risk that financial errors, loss, waste and fraud could occur and remain undetected.
The report includes nine recommendations that, if implemented, will improve the Board’s understanding of its fiscal oversight responsibilities, strengthen fiscal oversight of the District’s financial operations, improve financial planning and help safeguard District resources. District officials agreed with our recommendations and 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 New York State General Municipal Law. 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.
1 This time frame reflects two complete fiscal years.