Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to assess the Board’s oversight of the District’s financial operations for the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2014 and to identify any security vulnerabilities within the District’s network and public website for the period January 1, 2013 through October 15, 2014.

Background

The Galen-Clyde Joint Fire District is a district corporation of the State, distinct and separate from the Town of Galen and the Village of Clyde, located in Wayne County. The District, which is governed by an elected five-member Board of Fire commissioners, serves a population of approximately 4,290. Budgeted appropriations for 2015 are $157,987.

Key Findings

• The Board could not appropriately monitor the budget because it did not receive budget status reports, and, therefore, the District routinely overspent its budget for the period 2011 through 2013.
• The Board improperly transferred to the general fund a net total of $40,000 from the capital reserve which had not been repaid as of the end of 2014.
• The Board did not implement adequate policies and procedures to protect the District’s information technology assets.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt policies and procedures to assist in budgetary control, including Board review of budget status reports and timely budget amendments to increase appropriations by Board resolution before being overspent.
• Ensure that reserve funds are expended for the purpose for which a reserve was established and return the $40,000 owed to the capital reserve fund.
• Adopt policies and procedures governing information technology, including a breach notification policy, a disaster recovery plan and security requirements for the use of personal laptops for District purposes.