Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Tompkins Fire District (District) Board of Fire Commissioners (Board) provided oversight of the District’s financial activities.

Key Findings

The Board did not provide adequate oversight of the District’s financial activities.The Board did not:

• Establish controls over the work of the Treasurer, which include receiving and disbursing cash, signing District checks and maintaining the accounting records.
• Annually audit the Treasurer’s records or audit all District claims before payment.
• Ensure the Treasurer filed the District’s required annual update document (AUD) for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. As of May 10, 2023, the 2021 AUD was 435 days late and the 2022 AUD was nine days late.

In addition, two certificates of deposit (CDs) totaling $75,789, were not recorded in the District’s accounting records.The CDs date back to at least 2014 and were automatically renewed each year.

Key Recommendations

• Segregate the Treasurer’s financial duties or provide increased oversight to mitigate the risk.
• Annually audit the Treasurer’s records.
• File the AUD with the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) within 60 days of the close of the fiscal year.

District officials generally agreed with our findings and have initiated or indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.