A state audit of the Corfu Fire Department was a good thing for the department, members were told Monday evening at their first regular meeting since the audit was released by the NYS Comptroller's Office.
While the audit uncovered some missing documentation for expenses, it found "no material deficiencies."
"Like I said, it's a very good audit for us and she (the auditor from the state) explained everything to us very well," said Greg Lang, president of the department. "The audit showed incorrect procedures, but no misappropriation of funds."
Treasurer Bruce Fauth reviewed the report for members and then Lang and Fauth discussed what the auditor said during the process.
One of the auditor's findings was that for 26 financial payments totaling $4,779 the department failed to maintain proper documentation. However, as Fauth discussed with members, the expenses were authorized and accounted for.
The audit also nicked the department for not completing an annual report that by state law needs to be provided to members and filed with Genesee County.
Lang told members that the auditor said until she attended a seminar a few days before the audit she herself didn't know about the state law. It applies to all nonprofits in New York, and Fauth said he's never seen the requirement appear in a state audit report before.
"She said you're going to send this (the annual report) to Genesee County and you're going to get a phone call saying, ‘What is this?’ because they're never going to have seen it before," Lang said.
Fauth and Lang said that on every recommendation made by the auditor, the department's executive officers have already put corrective measures in place.
"She told us the reason we do these audits is so that you can correct these issues," Lang said. "As I said, we believe this audit was a good thing for us."
