Auditor General DePasquale Releases Audits for Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Associations in 23 Counties
Auditor General DePasquale Releases Audits for Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Associations in 23 Counties
HARRISBURG (March 15, 2018) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today announced the release of audit reports for volunteer firefighters’ relief associations in Adams, Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Butler, Chester, Columbia, Delaware, Fayette, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Tioga, Venango, Washington, Westmoreland and York counties.
The Department of the Auditor General examines volunteer firefighters’ relief associations, which receive state aid from a 2 percent state tax on fire insurance premiums purchased by Pennsylvania residents from out-of-state casualty insurance companies.
In 2017, 2,521 municipalities received $60.6 million in fire relief association funding for distribution to local volunteer firefighters’ relief associations to provide training, purchase equipment and insurance, and pay for death benefits for volunteer firefighters.
The full audit reports for VFRAs with findings are available online using the links provided below, others are available online at: www.PaAuditor.gov/audit-reports.
Adams County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: insufficient bond coverage and relief association accounts inappropriately registered under affiliated fire service organization’s federal tax identification number.
Allegheny County
Aspinwall VFRA – No findings
Forest Hills Fire Co. No. 1 VFRA – No findings
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: insufficient bond coverage.
Presto VFRA – No findings
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: noncompliance with prior audit recommendation for failure to comply with terms of loan agreement.
West Deer Fire Co. No. 2 VFRA – No findings
Beaver County
Monaca Fire Co. No. 5 VFRA – No findings
Berks County
Eastern Berks VFRA – No findings
Fleetwood Fire Co. No. 1 VFRA – No findings
Bradford County
LeRaysville-Pike VFRA – No findings
Butler County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: failure to maintain minutes of meetings.
Chester County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: inadequate relief association bylaws and insufficient bond coverage.
Glen Moore VFRA – No findings
Columbia County
Summerhill VFRA – No findings
Delaware County
Haverford Township VFRA – No findings
Ridley Park VFRA – No findings
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: undocumented expenditures and inappropriate ownership of rescue vehicle.
Fayette County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: failure to fully deposit state aid and failure to maintain bond coverage.
Huntingdon County
Huntingdon VFRA – No findings
Jefferson County
Reynoldsville VFRA – No findings
Lancaster County
Farmersville VFRA – No findings
Schoeneck VFRA – No findings
Lehigh County
Citizen’s Upper Milford Township VFRA
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: failure to maintain a complete and accurate equipment roster and failure to maintain a complete and accurate membership roster.
Luzerne County
Tilbury VFRA – No findings
Montgomery County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: failure to maintain a complete and accurate equipment roster.
Northumberland County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for four findings: inadequate meeting minutes and noncompliance with prior audit recommendations for inadequate relief association bylaws, failure to maintain a complete and accurate equipment roster, and failure to maintain a complete and accurate membership roster.
Schuylkill County
Landingville VFRA – No findings
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: noncompliance with prior audit recommendation for failure to maintain a complete and accurate equipment roster.
Tioga County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for three findings: untimely deposit of state aid, inadequate minutes of meetings, and noncompliance with prior audit recommendation for failure to adhere to relief association bylaws.
Venango County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: undocumented expenditures and undocumented loan.
Washington County
Midway VFRA – No findings
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: inadequate financial record-keeping system, and noncompliance with prior audit recommendation for inadequate signatory authority for disbursement of funds.
Westmoreland County
Latrobe VFRA – No findings
Sewickley Township Fire Co. No. 1 VFRA – No findings
York County
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for four findings: failure to maintain a Pennsylvania sales tax exemption number, and noncompliance with prior audit recommendations for failure to deposit state aid, inadequate minutes of meetings and failure to conduct annual physical equipment inventories.
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for one finding: failure to maintain a complete and accurate equipment roster.
Received and expended state aid and accumulated relief funds in compliance with applicable state laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures, except for two findings: unauthorized expenditure and insufficient bond coverage.
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