OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE CFD VIA THEIR FB PAGE https://www.facebook.com/CrotonFire/
Earlier this year, our Fire Council Audit Committee discovered some inconsistencies within our Council’s finances. Once we became aware of these issues, we notified the Village Manager, Mayor and Deputy Mayor who then notified the proper authorities. As you can imagine, what has ensued has been rough on us and many of us have felt saddened, angered and left with many questions.
Needless to say, it has been a busy several months of us putting together a plan to prevent this type of occurrence from ever happening again. Working with the Village administration, our Chiefs, the Fire Council and our attorney, we have implemented a number of changes, as outlined below.
1. A new Treasurer was appointed by the Fire Council.
2. We have terminated all debit and credit cards we previously utilized.
3. We have eliminated an older savings account, and have rolled that balance over to our checking account.
4. New checks were ordered utilizing our proper mailing address, and all checks now require two signatures.
5. The Fire Council has hired an external CPA to perform an annual audit of our finances.
6. We replaced one member of our Audit Committee (who is now our Treasurer) with another member of our department.
7. The Fire Council Audit Committee will now audit the Council account every 6 months. Previously this had been done on an annual basis.
8. A detailed, written, Treasurer's Report is now presented each month to the Fire Council, including a copy of the monthly bank statement.
9. To streamline our operations, we will be changing to a fiscal year (6/1- 5/31 effective in June, 2019).
10. The Fire Council now has an attorney on retainer and utilizes his services as needed. This attorney specializes in Fire Service Law.
11. The Fire Council Treasurer is now bonded for up to $160,000, which covers our account.
12. We are currently awaiting more information regarding liability insurance, which we hope to have for our next Fire Council meeting on August 28th.
13. Fire Council meetings may be attended by members of the community if so desired. Their dates, time and location can be found on our website (www.crotonfd.org) and on the Village website’s Calendar of Events.
14. Going forward, the Minutes from these Fire Council meetings will be available online to the public.
As we move forward and learn from this unexpected and dismal event, we can only hope that our loyal supporters know we will always do what we can to provide you with the most open and honest level of dialect that we can - and that you deserve.
We appreciate the support that we have received during this time from all of you, and we hope that you all understand that this was not something we ever could have envisioned, and we have been working diligently to improve our policies and procedures when it comes to our finances.
Last, and certainly not least, we must point out that none of this would have been possible without the support and commitment of our incredible membership, whom have weathered this storm and continued to serve without deviation. For this, we are extremely grateful and proud and can take confidence in knowing that we are as strong as we’ve ever been as your Croton-on-Hudson Volunteer Fire Department.
For any questions, comments, concerns - or even an interest in becoming one of "Croton's Bravest" - please feel free to email us at info@crotonfd.org.
Respectfully, The Chiefs, Officers and Members of the Croton Volunteer Fire Department
Earlier this year, our Fire Council Audit Committee discovered some inconsistencies within our Council’s finances. Once we became aware of these issues, we notified the Village Manager, Mayor and Deputy Mayor who then notified the proper authorities. As you can imagine, what has ensued has been rough on us and many of us have felt saddened, angered and left with many questions.
Needless to say, it has been a busy several months of us putting together a plan to prevent this type of occurrence from ever happening again. Working with the Village administration, our Chiefs, the Fire Council and our attorney, we have implemented a number of changes, as outlined below.
1. A new Treasurer was appointed by the Fire Council.
2. We have terminated all debit and credit cards we previously utilized.
3. We have eliminated an older savings account, and have rolled that balance over to our checking account.
4. New checks were ordered utilizing our proper mailing address, and all checks now require two signatures.
5. The Fire Council has hired an external CPA to perform an annual audit of our finances.
6. We replaced one member of our Audit Committee (who is now our Treasurer) with another member of our department.
7. The Fire Council Audit Committee will now audit the Council account every 6 months. Previously this had been done on an annual basis.
8. A detailed, written, Treasurer's Report is now presented each month to the Fire Council, including a copy of the monthly bank statement.
9. To streamline our operations, we will be changing to a fiscal year (6/1- 5/31 effective in June, 2019).
10. The Fire Council now has an attorney on retainer and utilizes his services as needed. This attorney specializes in Fire Service Law.
11. The Fire Council Treasurer is now bonded for up to $160,000, which covers our account.
12. We are currently awaiting more information regarding liability insurance, which we hope to have for our next Fire Council meeting on August 28th.
13. Fire Council meetings may be attended by members of the community if so desired. Their dates, time and location can be found on our website (www.crotonfd.org) and on the Village website’s Calendar of Events.
14. Going forward, the Minutes from these Fire Council meetings will be available online to the public.
As we move forward and learn from this unexpected and dismal event, we can only hope that our loyal supporters know we will always do what we can to provide you with the most open and honest level of dialect that we can - and that you deserve.
We appreciate the support that we have received during this time from all of you, and we hope that you all understand that this was not something we ever could have envisioned, and we have been working diligently to improve our policies and procedures when it comes to our finances.
Last, and certainly not least, we must point out that none of this would have been possible without the support and commitment of our incredible membership, whom have weathered this storm and continued to serve without deviation. For this, we are extremely grateful and proud and can take confidence in knowing that we are as strong as we’ve ever been as your Croton-on-Hudson Volunteer Fire Department.
For any questions, comments, concerns - or even an interest in becoming one of "Croton's Bravest" - please feel free to email us at info@crotonfd.org.
Respectfully, The Chiefs, Officers and Members of the Croton Volunteer Fire Department
A good start on moving forward and rebuilding trust. Glad to see these steps being taken.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. This is a good start.
ReplyDeleteThe actions of one/some do not represent the whole department. We will forever be grateful to Croton's Bravest, doing a job that so many of us would never have the guts to do.
ReplyDelete