2008 Newspaper articles

02/20/2008

Gordon Heights Fire Dept. Gets Audited

By:Karen Forman

A DISTRICT DIVIDED— An audit released from the state comptroller’s office examined the financial practices of the Gordon Heights Fire District. Residents in the GHFD have been speaking out about what they believe are unfairly high fire district taxes.

A number of residents within the Gordon Heights Fire District have been speaking out against what they believe are incredibly high fire district taxes. Now, locals are hoping that their concerns will be addressed, as New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office just released its audit report of the Gordon Heights Fire District.

The audit identified five main areas where the district could have reduced expenses: At their annual fire installation dinner; at their annual conference in Baltimore; in their procurement of professional services; in their use of the pool vehicle; and in their use of vehicle fuel.

However, Bill Reynolds, spokesperson for the comptroller's office, pointed out that "even though the district should reduce expenses in these areas, these potential cost reductions would have little effect on the district's tax rate," which, at $64 per $100 of assessed value, is the highest in the town of Brookhaven.

As previously reported in Suffolk Life, the problem is that Gordon Heights has almost no commercial properties to offset all the residential homes. And it's a Catch-22, according to activist Rosalie Hanson. "To bring down the taxes, the area needs to bring in more commercial properties," she said, "but with the high tax rate, commercial businesses are hesitant to come into the area."

Responding to the findings in the audit, Gordon Heights Fire Chief Erton Rudder said he thought "it was an excellent report. No misappropriation of funds. No mismanagement. No fraud. We need to improve some things. The treasurer needs some oversight just to make sure everything is being done properly, which it is. The reason our taxes are so high is because of the lack of commercial properties in our district. People shouldn't be blaming us for the way the lines were drawn 60 years ago, making us almost all residential. That's what we should be working on, trying to fix that."

The audit covers the period of January 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007, and included some criticisms of the fire district. The audit stated that the GHFD "did not establish guidelines to adequately control certain expenditures." With the installation dinner, for example, because they invited people other than the district's volunteer firefighters, they incurred additional costs of approximately $12,100 in 2006 and $11,300 in 2007.

Area resident Gina Previte believes that "the audit report does two things. It officially proves that the district has an insufficient tax base to sustain the demands of the current technology and mandates required to run a fire district properly and it confirms the commissioner's lack of regard and respect for the already overburdened taxpayer. Their extra and unnecessary spending, such as the overdone installation dinner, will not remedy our tax base problem and simply adds insult to injury."

"Our menu [for the installation dinner] is very reasonable, very standard," responded GHFD Commissioner James Kelly, who said all the issues in the audit report have been or are being addressed. "Should we be serving frankfurters instead of steaks? We invited more than just the firefighters because we want to honor our benefactors, such as [Assemblywoman] Pat Eddington (WF-Medford), who got us a $100,000 grant, and [Congressman] Tim Bishop (D-Coram) and [Brookhaven Fourth District Councilwoman] Connie Kepert. Cornerstone Church gives us $1,000 every year, so they are invited. The Coram Fire Department helps us out occasionally, so they get invited. Anyway, it shouldn't be about the dinner once a year. It should be about us saving lives 365 days a year."

But arguing that "99% of the calls they get are ambulance calls," Middle Island resident Willie Gadson said the fire district "should make the fire house an ambulance hub and let us merge with one of the other area fire districts. I can walk to the Coram and Middle Island fire houses from my house ... Fifty years ago they say that the other fire districts wouldn't come put out a fire at a black person's house. Maybe that's true. I wasn't around here 50 years ago. But now, as a black person in 2008, if I call 911, Middle Island and Coram will get to my house before Gordon Heights would. It's not about saving lives anymore. The public will still be served if we dissolve the GHFD ... People don't want to buy my house if they can buy the house across the street and pay $1,000 less in fire taxes."

The audit report also focused on the district's "pool vehicle," which was supposed to be used to transport district officials to and from three conferences, less than 1,500 total miles. But according to the odometer, the car was driven approximately 7,700 miles during the audit period. There were no records to account for the additional 6,200 miles - an average of about 100 miles each week - according to the audit.

In addition, the comptroller's office found that there are two fuel pumps on-site at the district's fire house, and that 5,013 gallons of unleaded gasoline were purchased from them, costing $11,285, but the fuel usage log book accounted for only 2,761 gallons for "authorized district purposes." The district also purchased 2,655 gallons of diesel fuel, costing $6,013, but recorded a total usage of only 1,784 gallons. Because of this, the report stated that "district officials and taxpayers do not have adequate assurance that the district's vehicle was used for valid and necessary district purposes, and that its fuel inventories were adequately protected from waste, theft, or misuse."

In response to these findings, Kelly said, "There's no mismanagement here ... We went further than they want [to make improvements]. We have responsible people here, professional people who do a wonderful job. We trust the individuals who work for us but now someone's always going to have to watch us, like Big Brother." He stated that they're also looking into getting that system that Brookhaven Town has to monitor the gasoline.

Still believing that the fire district is ripping off the people in Gordon Heights, Gadson said he is angry that no one seems to want to do anything to help. "I've been to town hall; no one has answers," he said. "Everyone's racially uptight nowadays. We're talking about a black fire department and an all-white town board. The fire district knows this and is playing that racial card, so no one on the board wants to touch this. They just nod their heads, give you your three minutes [to speak] and then say good-bye. None of the board lives in Gordon Heights; they don't pay these fire taxes. The fire commissioners know this ... Now this audit will get pushed under the carpet like everything else."

People in the community also are concerned because the fire district is buying new vehicles. "The commissioners go to the politicians with hat in hand crying about how we need this and that, and they are always given grants to help buy rescue equipment," Hanson commented. "But grants cannot be applied to the operating budget. Then they turn around and slap all of us in the face by seeking to purchase four other vehicles."

Defending the fire district, Kelly replied, "They say we're getting a new rig. What should we do? Fight fires on roller skates? Should we fight fires with broken-down equipment? We're trying to save lives. If we show up at your house, which is burning, with broken-down equipment, are you going to be happy?"

Rudder noted that the fire district has "an aging fleet. We have a 1989 pumper truck that's gotten two new motors in the past and has no air conditioning. It's not cost effective to keep fixing it. All the new vehicles have a five-year warranty and repairs are covered. We get a new pumper and it's good for another 20 years."

As for the audit, Kelly added, "The state told us to correct a few things and we did."

Those interested in viewing the audit can obtain the document online at www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/fired

ists/2008/gordonheights.pdf.

Newsday.com

Audit says Gordon Heights fire costs need controls

BY PATRICK WHITTLE

patrick.whittle@newsday.com

February 12, 2008

A lack of fiscal controls over expenses as routine as the use of a general-purpose vehicle and the cost of an annual dinner has helped create Long Island's highest fire taxes, according to a state comptroller's audit of the Gordon Heights Fire District.

Homeowners in tiny Gordon Heights pay an average fire tax of more than $1,500 annually in part because the district has "not established guidelines to adequately control certain expenditures," states the report released this month by the office of Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

The audit report - which criticized the district for 6,200 miles of unexplained use on a vehicle, 3,000 gallons of missing gasoline and diesel fuel, and $23,400 spent over two years on installation dinners - comes amid an ongoing debate over whether the fire district, one of Long Island's few predominantly black fire districts, should be consolidated with one of four neighboring districts where taxes can be about one-fourth as much.

Gordon Heights has already pledged to address all the concerns and adopt more fiscal controls, the report states.

James Kelly, chairman of the Gordon Heights Board of Fire Commissioners, said the district is already implementing policies such as improved bookkeeping and accounting as well as tighter regulations on the use of district equipment.

"We're making positive changes, we're not ignoring" the report, Kelly said.

But Rosalie Hanson, one of several local activists leading an effort to have the fire district dissolved, said the audit is further proof that the district, which serves fewer than 900 households, is not sustainable.

"That just proves that our district is too small to support itself, like we've been saying for the past two years," Hanson said.

The audit also says the district:

Did not change a set of keys, for gas pumps, that had been presumed stolen for more than a year.

Failed to set a maximum per-day allowance for lodging, which led to seven people spending $2,244 more than the maximum federal per-day allowance would have allowed at a conference in Baltimore in July 2006.

Did not provide enough oversight of a treasurer, who maintained its accounting records. The lack of oversight opened the door for "an increased risk that inappropriate transactions could be initiated."

The report, which focused on expenses between January 2006 and March 2007, does not put all of the onus for the high fire taxes on financial mismanagement. The neighborhood's lack of commercial property taxes also is a factor, the report states.

Brookhaven Town's finance commissioner will review the comptroller's audit, Supervisor Brian Foley said.

ALBANY - For the first time, a state commission has recommended taking a hard look at New York's volunteer-led system of fire protection and requiring counties to at least consider assuming more control of their local fire services.

It's such a touchy subject that five of the 15 members of the Commission on Local Government Efficiency - including Long Island's two members - voted against even studying the idea.

But commissioners said they'd heard too many "horror stories" on Long Island and statewide about multiplying Taj Mahal fire stations stuffed with brand new equipment, at a time when volunteer numbers are rapidly dropping.

"Our taxes are far too high, and we can't continue to embrace the status quo and expect things to get any better," said Assemb. Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo), chairman of the local governments committee and a member of the commission, which presented its recommendations to Gov. David A. Paterson on Wednesday. "I guess they [volunteers] are a powerful constituency, but at some point we have got to learn to say no."

The commission, which drew in part on findings from Newsday's 2005 Fire Alarm series, emphasized that voters would have to approve, through referendum, any move to give their county broader power to coordinate fire services and review equipment and coverage decisions.

Its report proposed a range of other changes to the fire system:

Requiring all E-911 calls and police, fire and emergency medical dispatch to be handled by counties;

Empowering towns to create their own fire departments;

Holding all fire district elections on Election Day or on the same day in spring, run by the county board of elections, and notifying voters by mail of their fire polling place;

Making it easier to dissolve fire districts - a measure inspired by the predicament of angry homeowners in the high-tax Gordon Heights Fire District;

Requiring a detailed study of the state's fragmented fire system, and more reporting on fire spending and budgets;

Devising new incentives tailored to younger volunteers.

Fire officials were unenthusiastic about most of the proposals. Bill Young, counsel for the state fire districts association, said putting towns or counties in charge of fire protection would be "extremely difficult" both logistically and because volunteers sign up only to serve their hometowns. Kirby Hannan, spokesman for the state firemen's association representing the volunteers, agreed. He argued for a more tailored solution to Gordon Heights' budget problems but favored the idea of county dispatch and new incentives.

Young also argued that reforms passed by the state in the wake of Newsday's 2005 series should be given more time to work.

Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman, who along with Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) opposed studying county management of fire services, said county control would disrupt the sense of community that makes the volunteer system work.

But Weitzman said he will ask the Long Island Regional Planning Board to study countywide dispatching. "There's a lot of solid research that went into those recommendations, and whether you agree with them or disagree they are clearly worthy of discussion," he said.