Audit Objective
Did the Le Roy Fire District’s (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) ensure travel, meal and refreshment purchases were adequately supported and for a proper District purpose?
Audit Period
January 1, 2023 – March 2, 2026
Understanding the Audit Area
Ensuring that travel, meal and refreshment purchases are adequately supported with documentation and for proper district purposes helps safeguard public funds, promotes transparency and accountability and provides assurance that district resources are used prudently and in the best interests of the district and its taxpayers.
During the audit period, District officials paid for 134 travel, meal and refreshment purchases totaling $23,350.
Audit Summary
The Board did not adequately oversee the District’s travel, meal and refreshment purchases to ensure they were properly supported with documentation, complied with District policies and served legitimate District purposes. Of the 134 purchases totaling approximately $23,000 that we reviewed, 117 purchases totaling approximately $22,100 contained one or more exceptions. As a result, District officials paid approximately $17,000 for purchases that were unnecessary or not appropriate District expenditures. The purchases accounted for 74 percent of the travel, meal and refreshment purchases made during the audit.
Specifically, we noted the following exceptions. Some purchases included more than one exception:
- 71 non-travel-related meal or refreshment purchases, totaling approximately $13,800 did not qualify as actual and necessary District expenses.
- 44 travel-related purchases totaling approximately $8,000 did not have evidence of prior approval or completed expense vouchers as required by the District’s travel policy, and 14 non-travel-related meal and refreshment purchases totaling approximately $2,200 did not have adequate supporting documentation such as itemized receipts to demonstrate that they were for a proper District purpose.
- 32 travel-related purchases that included meal and lodging expenses exceeding the District’s travel policy limits for lodging costs and per diem meal allowances by approximately $2,800.
Although the Board was generally required to perform a proper claims audit before they were paid, the Board did not audit or approve travel, meal and refreshment purchases before payment. Had each Commissioner conducted a thorough and deliberate claims audit, they would have noted that a significant number of travel-related purchases did not comply with the District’s travel policy and that non-travel-related meal and refreshment purchases did not have adequate supporting documentation to demonstrate that they were proper District charges. Furthermore, had the Board established a written policy identifying which non-travel-related activities qualified for meals and refreshments, District staff and volunteers would have had clearer guidance on allowable expenditures and the proper use of District funds.
The report includes three recommendations that, if implemented, will strengthen the Board’s oversight of travel, meal and refreshment expenditures and improve the District’s claims audit and payment process. Although District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they will take corrective action, they disagreed with certain aspects of our findings. Appendix C includes our comments on issues raised in the District’s response.
We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s (OSC) authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (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.