Audit criticizes Port Washington Fire Department budgets

A state audit has faulted the Port Washington Fire Department, saying past budgets did not accurately portray expected operating costs.

State officials said that because the department relied on net assets to fund budget shortfalls, the fire department did not adopt "structurally balanced budgets" and funded "recurring expenditures with one-shot uses of accumulated net assets."

The state comptroller's office examined the department's internal controls between Jan. 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015.

Auditors wrote that budgets underestimated annual spending. The largest discrepancy, $45,633, was in the budget for building maintenance and supplies.

Auditors wrote that the department is in danger of seeing its "net assets being depleted," which could lead to department deficits.

Auditors suggested that the board "develop and adopt structurally balanced budgets that include realistic estimates of expenditures."

The department's board of directors chairman, Michael Tedeschi, responded in a letter included in the audit that said officials agree with the findings. Tedeschi wrote that the department has "instituted changes" to create "more accurate budgets."

"The board willfully made the decision to reduce net assets and cash reserves for balancing the budget," Tedeschi wrote. He conceded that "this is not a viable long-term strategy."