June Dear Chairman Cuttita and Members of the Board of Fire Commissioners:

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1 THOMAS P. DiNAPOLI COMPTROLLER STATE OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER 110 STATE STREET ALBANY, NEW YORK GABRIEL F. DEYO DEPUTY COMPTROLLER DIVISION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY Tel: (518) Fax: (518) June 2015 Jhn Cuttita, Chairman Members f the Bard f Fire Cmmissiners Cliftn Park-Halfmn Fire District N Old Rute 146 Cliftn Park, NY Reprt Number: 2015M-064 Dear Chairman Cuttita and Members f the Bard f Fire Cmmissiners: The Office f the State Cmptrller wrks t identify areas where fire district fficials can imprve their peratins and prvide guidance and services that will assist them in making thse imprvements. Our gals are t develp and prmte shrt-term and lng-term strategies t enable and encurage fire district fficials t reduce csts, imprve service delivery and accunt fr and prtect their entity s assets. In accrdance with these gals, we cnducted an audit f the Cliftn Park-Halfmn Fire District N. 1 (District) which addressed the fllwing questin: Did District fficials prperly award firefighters Length f Service Awards Prgram (LOSAP) service credit? We discussed the findings and recmmendatins with District fficials and cnsidered their cmments in preparing this reprt. The District s respnse is attached t this reprt in Appendix B. District fficials agreed with ur recmmendatins and initiated, r indicated they planned t initiate, crrective actin. Backgrund and Methdlgy The District is a district crpratin f the State, distinct and separate frm the Twns f Cliftn Park and Halfmn and Saratga Cunty in which it is lcated. An elected five-member Bard f Fire Cmmissiners (Bard) gverns the District and is respnsible fr the District s verall financial management and fr verseeing its LOSAP. The District s 2014 perating budget was apprximately $802,000 and was funded primarily with real prperty taxes. As f December 31, 2014, the District s LOSAP assets ttaled $486,364 and its cntributin fr the 2014 service award prgram year was $19,601.

2 We examined the District s LOSAP fr the perid January 1, 2012 t December 31, We interviewed District fficials and staff and reviewed Bard minutes and District recrds t determine the prcess used t track and recrd activity pints and award annual service credits and t determine whether the Bard apprved a list f members wh earned annual service credits. We cnducted this perfrmance audit in accrdance with generally accepted gvernment auditing standards. Thse standards require that we plan and perfrm the audit t btain sufficient, apprpriate evidence t prvide a reasnable basis fr ur findings and cnclusins based n ur audit bjective. We believe that the evidence btained prvides a reasnable basis fr ur findings and cnclusins based n ur audit bjective. Audit Results The District spnsrs and funds a defined-cntributin LOSAP, which is intended t facilitate the recruitment and retentin f active vlunteer firefighters by prviding them with a pensin-like benefit based upn their years f firefighting service t the District. Generally, upn reaching age 60, participants in the District s LOSAP will receive a lump sum, life annuity r life annuity with survivr benefits. The District s cntributin per participant was $480 per year thrugh 2006, and $700 per year after. When a fire district spnsrs a LOSAP, district fficials are required t establish a pint system that cmplies with New Yrk State General Municipal Law (GML). GML establishes the activities that can be included in the pint system. One such activity is participatin in department respnses. 1 The District must grant 25 pints t vlunteer firefighters fr respnding t a minimum number f fire calls during a calendar year. The minimum number f calls is dependent n the ttal number f calls the fire department respnds t annually. Fr example, if the fire department respnds annually t 500 r fewer fire calls, then a vlunteer firefighter must respnd t at least 10 percent f the fire calls t receive pints. If the fire department respnds annually t mre than 500 fire calls and less than 1,000 fire calls, then a vlunteer firefighter must respnd t at least 7.5 percent f the fire calls t receive pints. Active vlunteer firefighters earning 50 service award pints annually must be credited with ne year f firefighting service (LOSAP service credit). Pints must be granted in accrdance with the pint system established by the LOSAP spnsr. Annually each vlunteer fire cmpany is required t submit a list (certified under ath) t its fire district s gverning bard, identifying vlunteer firefighters wh earned at least 50 pints during the preceding year. The gverning bard is required t review the list and apprve the final annual certificatin, at which time each vlunteer firefighter n the list must be awarded ne year f LOSAP service credit. We fund that the District s pint system requires that firefighters participate in a minimum f 10 percent f the District s ttal annual respnses t be able t earn 25 service fr participatin in department respnses. Hwever, since the District's pint system plicy was mdified in 2009, the District has been respnding t mre than 500 incidents per year. Under GML, when call vlume increases t between 500 and 1,000 calls per year, the percentage f the ttal calls a vlunteer must run t receive the 25 pints drps frm 10 percent t 7.5 percent. District fficials were nt aware 1 Other activities that can be included are training curses, stand-bys and sleep-ins, serving in an elected r appinted psitin, teaching fire preventin classes, attending certain meetings, drills and certain miscellaneus activities. GML specifies the number f pints that can be granted each time an activity is perfrmed and, in mst instances, the maximum number f pints that can be earned fr perfrming a given activity ver the curse f a year. See Appendix A fr additinal infrmatin regarding LOSAPs. 2

3 that the District s pint system did nt award pints fr participating in department respnses in accrdance with GML. Earning the 25 service award pints fr participating in department respnses greatly helps a firefighter satisfy the 50 pint requirement fr btaining a year f LOSAP service credit. We calculated the apprpriate minimum number f department respnses, based n the department s call vlume fr each f the years within the scpe f ur audit, and determined if 25 pints fr participating in department respnses (incident pints) were awarded. If the pints were nt prperly awarded, we then determined if this resulted in firefighters nt receiving LOSAP service credit. As a result f the District s pint system requiring participatin in a minimum f 10 percent f calls, instead f 7.5 percent, we fund that sme vlunteer firefighters did nt receive 25 pints and, in certain cases, a year f LOSAP service credit t which they were entitled under GML. Mre specifically, ur review fund the fllwing: In 2012, incident pints were nt awarded t fur individuals wh shuld have received the pints. As a result, tw individuals did nt receive LOSAP service credit. Fr example, ne firefighter did nt receive 25 pints fr respnding t 49 calls, when the firefighter nly needed t respnd t 46 calls (7.5 percent f ttal calls) t earn the pints. Withut these 25 pints, the firefighter did reach the 50 pints required t be awarded LOSAP service credit. In 2013, incident pints were nt awarded t three individuals. This errr prevented ne firefighter frm receiving LOSAP service credit. This firefighter respnded t 52 calls (mre than 7.5 percent f ttal calls) and shuld have earned 25 pints tward a year f LOSAP service credit. In 2014, incident pints were nt initially awarded t six individuals. Withut these 25 pints, fur f these firefighters did nt earn 50 pints and a year f LOSAP service credit. Fr example, ne firefighter did nt receive 25 pints fr respnding t 45 calls, when he nly needed t respnd t 42 calls (7.5 percent f ttal calls) t earn the pints. Because this issue was brught t the attentin f District fficials at the cmpletin f fieldwrk, there was sufficient time t crrect the pint ttals fr that year. We als reviewed the District s recrds cncerning training curses, stand-bys and sleep-ins, serving in an elected r appinted psitin, teaching fire preventin classes, attending certain meetings, drills and certain miscellaneus activities and did nt nte any discrepancies between the recrds and the LOSAP pints awarded. Recmmendatins District fficials shuld: 1. Review and amend the District s pint system as necessary t ensure it is cnsistent with GML. 2. Ensure that firefighters receive the pints t which they are entitled under the District s pint system and GML. 3

4 The Bard has the respnsibility t initiate crrective actin. Pursuant t Sectin 181-b f the New Yrk State Twn Law, a written crrective actin plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recmmendatin in this reprt must be prepared and frwarded t ur ffice within 90 days. T the extent practicable, implementatin f the CAP must begin by the end f the next fiscal year. Fr mre infrmatin n preparing and filing yur CAP, please refer t ur brchure, Respnding t an OSC Audit Reprt, which yu received with the draft audit reprt. The Bard shuld make the CAP available fr public review in the District Secretary s ffice. We thank the fficials f the Cliftn Park-Halfmn Fire District fr the curtesies and cperatin extended t ur auditrs during this audit. Sincerely, Gabriel F. Dey Deputy Cmptrller 4

5 APPENDIX A ADDITIONAL LOSAP INFORMATION GML prvisins fr awarding LOSAP pints are summarized as fllws: Training Curses: 25 pints maximum Curses under 20 hurs duratin ne pint per hur, with a maximum f five pints Curses 20 t 45 hurs duratin ne pint per hur fr each hur ver the initial 20 hurs, with a maximum f 10 pints Curses ver 45 hurs t 100 hurs duratin 15 pints per curse Curses ver 100 hurs duratin 25 pints per curse Drills: One pint per drill (minimum tw-hur drill), with 20 pints maximum Sleep-ins and stand-bys: One pint per each qualifying event, with 20 pints maximum Elected r appinted psitin: 25 pints maximum per year in the psitin Meetings: One pint per meeting fr attending fficial fire cmpany meetings, with 20 pints maximum Participatin in department respnses: 25 pints fr meeting the minimum number f calls based n a percentage f the ttal number f calls the department respnds t annually 25 pints fr fire calls (i.e., all calls ther than emergency rescue and first squad calls [ambulance call] ) 25 pints fr EMS calls (i.e., emergency rescue and first aid squad [ambulance] calls) Miscellaneus activities: One pint per activity fr inspectins and ther activities cvered by New Yrk State Vlunteer Firefighters Benefit Law and nt therwise listed, with 15 pints maximum Disability: Five pints per mnth fr certain line-f-duty disabilities Teaching fire preventin curses under certain circumstances: One pint per class, with a maximum f five pints 5

6 APPENDIX B RESPONSE FROM DISTRICT OFFICIALS The District fficials respnse t this audit can be fund n the fllwing pages. 6

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