Audit claims districts misappropriated tax-payer dollars
By Jennifer Barrios and Erik German
Newsday
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Until recently, taxpayers in the West Islip Fire District were footing the bill for subscriptions to the Playboy channel, “Strip Night NY” and “Naked News TV” for volunteers at the firehouse.
An audit by the state comptroller’s office, released yesterday, revealed that the fire district spent $615 of taxpayer money on pornographic channels.
Three other Long Island fire districts also were blasted in the audit, which detailed “pervasive problems” of overspending and lack of oversight of taxpayer dollars.
The audit said two districts spent more than $330 per night on hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Orlando. One district bought nearly a half-million dollars worth of equipment for its racing team. Another district covered conference travel expenses for personal guests.
The comptroller’s audit covered four Long Island fire districts - Syosset, West Sayville-Oakdale, Manhasset-Lakeville and West Islip - along with two upstate. It found all lacked internal expense controls.
Officials from the Long Island districts sharply disputed the findings. West Sayville-Oakdale dismissed the audit as “grandstanding,” saying yesterday in a statement that auditors tallied costs from multiple years and exaggerated some expenses to “make better headlines. “
The audit found that while officials from the two upstate districts roomed together and spent “conservative” amounts on meals during conferences, the Island districts far exceeded federal per diem rates for hotels and food, although districts are not required by law to adhere to those rates.
The audit also criticized annual inspection dinners, saying the districts invited too many people and overspent on alcohol and entertainment for them.
The report covered two periods: from January 2005 through August 2006 for travel, entertainment and administrative expenses, and from January 1998 through August 2006 for drill-team-equipment expenses.
The comptroller found “significant disparities” in district spending on travel and entertainment, and found some “inappropriate” purchases, including the pornography in West Islip.
“We believe this erodes the public’s trust,” said Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office. “I’m not aware of another audit where we had a similar finding. “
Sal Sapienza, an attorney in Massapequa whose firm represents the West Islip and Syosset fire districts, said the pornography purchase was made by a rogue individual in the fire department.
“We never authorized the Playboy channel,” Sapienza said. “Somebody tampered with the cable equipment to get this channel in. “
After auditors revealed the pornography purchase, Sapienza said the district got the money back and the culprit was kicked out of the department.
Sapienza also said districts need to be able to make their own decisions about travel expenses.
“Every time the board sends an individual to a convention or training, they’ve made a determination that this training is necessary,” he said.
The audit also found more than $8,700 in “inappropriate” travel expenses incurred by the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire District, including five instances where the district was not reimbursed for the costs of guests traveling with conference attendees, and five other instances where district officials mistakenly were reimbursed a total of $3,102 for purchases they had made with district credit cards.
Manhasset-Lakeville officials could not be reached for comment. But in a Nov. 14, 2006 letter to the comptroller’s office in response to a draft audit, district officials said they agreed with the audit’s findings and would work to recoup the money.
The comptroller’s office chose the six fire districts because of their similarities - for instance, each has a drill team, a group of firefighters that competes in racing and drills against other fire districts.
The audit questioned the expense of the competition equipment, which is not used to fight fires, and urged districts to document the benefit to the fire district of these activities.
The comptroller’s office, headed by former Long Island Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli, recommended fire districts establish internal controls and guidance on spending.
The boards of fire commissioners of the six fire districts have 90 days to issue a plan of action in response to the audit. In their letters of response, several districts said they plan to rewrite travel expense policies.
Expenses under scrutiny
Key findings in the state comptroller’s audit of four Long Island fire districts:
Manhasset-Lakeville Fire District
Four officials who traveled to a three-day conference in San Diego last year spent four additional nights there, adding $4,025 to the district’s bill. One official submitted receipts for meals eaten at Disneyland on a day he was supposed to be at the conference.
The district spent about $80,000 on a tractor-trailer used to haul its racing gear.
Five officials spent an average of $338 a day on hotel rooms for a conference in Orlando.
Syosset Fire District
At a conference in Baltimore, 15 officials spent $14,400 for hotels over five days- nearly double the federal per-diem rates.
West Sayville-Oakdale Fire District
At a conference in Las Vegas, district officials paid up to $343 per night for lodging, compared with the federal government rate of $106.
Between 2000 and 2006, the district spent $467,000 on racing equipment for its drill team, the “Flying Dutchmen,” the largest total of any district in the audit.
West Islip Fire District
The district held a subscription to the Playboy channel and several other adult movie channels at the firehouse, at a cost of $615 in taxpayer money.
At a Las Vegas convention, district officials spent an average of $126 per day for food, $83 more than federal per-diem guidelines.