Elmont Fire District's spending criticized

The purchase of more than $1,000 in tickets to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game and more than $1,800 spent on what appeared to be one meal at a Baltimore restaurant were among the examples cited in a state comptroller audit that criticized the Elmont Fire District for a lack of oversight and failure to adopt and enforce a written policy on the appropriate use of credit cards.

The report released Thursday also is critical of the appointment of a district treasurer who "lacked the criteria to perform public officer duties, and key budget controls were not implemented or effective to restrict and monitor budgetary activity."

The audit states that the fire district issued nine credit cards to the five commissioners, two firehouse men, the treasurer and the district secretary but did not have proper policies in place for their use. All told, 122 of 143 randomly selected credit card transactions, totaling $38,380, did not have sufficient documentation to prove whether the charges were legitimate. Seventy-seven of those transactions had no receipts at all. The audit covered the period Jan. 1, 2009, to July 31, 2010.

The district spent $1,196 for tickets to an Orioles game, $1,840 for a meal at a Baltimore restaurant and $699 for a meal at a local restaurant, including $100 for beer, which "served no District purpose or were clearly inappropriate," read the report.

In its written response to the audit, the district said it will tighten up fiscal controls.

In a response issued Thursday, attributed to Frank Hrbek Jr., chairman of the board of commissioners, the district said, "The issues in this audit were administrative and procedural in nature. We've already taken steps to enhance our procedures to address several of the findings, and we will continue to monitor financial controls and ensure that proper systems are in place."

The district said in its written response the board will also have written travel policies, which will include no alcohol.

The audit also noted that a treasurer, by law, must be a resident and employee of the district, not a contractor. But Elmont's treasurer appears to be an independent contractor, not an employee, the audit said. A nonresident may be appointed if the board determines no resident is willing to serve, but "there is no indication" that happened, according to the audit.

In response, the district said the treasurer was properly appointed but not put on payroll, which will be done.

The audit also chided the district for overspending its budget for fire equipment and dipping into its reserves. The district responded that new purchasing controls have been put in place to monitor spending on equipment.