Whitman County Fire District 12 officials have adopted new financial record tracking policies since a recent state audit found thousands of dollars in unaccounted credit card charges from 2013 to 2016.
Fire Commissioner Lee Druffel said the district did not previously have a formal credit card policy and did not keep itemized receipts for all spending. (It does now.) During the audit period, the district also took on new spending authority and had some records staff turnover.
“It mainly was a filing system problem,” Druffel said. “Receipts weren’t being kept track of. … I don’t believe there was any misuse of funds, I’ll tell you that.”
A Nov. 19 accountability audit from the State Auditor’s Office examined credit card and procurement practices during a four-year period. Auditors could not find records for more than $10,800 in credit card spending. The district also failed to keep proper records for 44 percent of a sample of other purchases.
“Without proper … procedures to monitor credit card purchases,” the audit stated, “the District cannot adequately safeguard its use of public funds and ensure purchases are supported and for valid business purposes.”
Druffel, who has served on the commission about two years, said he believed the district had not undergone an in-depth audit in eight years. The State Auditor’s Office lists seven minor assessment audits going back to 2005. None of those reports cite any problematic findings, though a 2012 report states auditors “noted certain matters”and passed them on to the district.
Now that its annual budget tops $300,000, Druffel said the district faces more stringent financial review every two years.
“We’re in a heads-up state now for knowing what we need to do,” he said.
Dist. 12 Fire Chief Lester Erwin said commissioners have spent the past six months writing a credit card policy and reviewing other practices. He said many credit card charges were for fire crew meals or other routine expenses. The district’s cards will now be signed out for use and receipts will be itemized.
“Everything’s getting that way now — more documentation,” Erwin said. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s just a hassle. … (But) we want to make sure the money is being spent right.”
Erwin acknowledged previous auditors had raised questions about credit card records and overly generous tipping on purchases. They now expect another audit in 2020.
“It’s just a learning experience,” he said. “I guarantee this next one will be much smoother.”
In its audit response, the district also noted commissioners would review open meeting practices. Erwin explained commissioners had sometimes met on short notice for emergency spending approvals.
Druffel said he could not recall any recent problems with open meeting practices. Some meetings may have had issues prior to his term, he said, but the board had recently clarified many of its policies.
“We’re just kind of working on trying to clean things up a bit,” he said. “I think that’s all been taken care of in the last year.”
Whitman County Fire District 13
Also, the state audit report for Fire District 13 came out today. The district covers the Colfax, Wilcox and Dusty area. There were no significant findings:
Based on the procedures performed, nothing came to our attention in the areas we reviewed that caused us to believe the District was not in substantial compliance with applicable state laws, regulations, and its own policies, or had significant weaknesses in controls over the safeguarding of public resources. Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that would have been reported.