YELLOW SHEET
Office of the State Auditor of Missouri
Claire McCaskill
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YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
Report No. 2006-05
February 2006
A review of audits of fire protections districts in St. Louis County has been completed. This review covered the reports for the year ended December 31, 2004 and 2003.
Fire protection districts in St. Louis County are required by law to have biennial audits performed if revenues exceed $50,000. The State Auditor received, reviewed and accepted 22 reports for the year ended December 31, 2004. However, nine of the twenty-two reports for the year ending December 31, 2004 were received after the June 30, 2005, statutory deadline, with two districts more than 135 days late.
The Kinloch Fire Protection District failed to comply with state law and did not have an audit performed. Based on district records, total receipts were $49,900 and $128,000 for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively.
Additional objectives and information are included in this year's review including comparisons of salaries, numbers of employees, and numbers of vehicles between district and city fire departments located in St. Louis County. An evaluation of the 2005 district budgets for compliance with state law was also performed.
In 2004, 18 of 22 districts had increases in their General Fund balances; and the aggregate General Fund balance of all districts increased by 12 percent. In previous reviews, it was noted that several districts had large General Fund balances in relation to expenditures. For 2004, the ratio of unreserved, undesignated fund balance to expenditures has increased for 13 of the 22 fire districts. Although many districts reserved a portion of their General Fund balance for capital improvements and future years' operations, six still had unreserved fund balances greater than one year's cost of operations. As noted in prior reports, the districts should annually re-evaluate the propriety of their tax levies to ensure that excess revenues are not being received and accumulated.
Based on the pension plan notes in the audit reports, 11 districts with defined benefit plans do not have enough estimated actuarial assets to cover the estimated actuarial liability (pension benefits) in their Pension Fund, resulting in an unfunded liability.
There were large variances between pay ranges in district and city fire department employees. Salaries for district Fire Chiefs ranged from $66,404 to $136,401, with eight districts having salaries of $100,000 or more. Salaries for city Fire Chiefs varied from
$49,433 to $100,829, with two cities having salaries of $100,000 or more. District firefighter/paramedics and firefighter salaries ranged from $25,875 to $94,959, while cities varied from $30,454 to $62,042. Overall salaries significantly vary among fire districts and are higher than those paid to city employees.
Some fire protection district budgets are not totally in compliance with state law. Several districts did not have budgets for all funds, did not show comparative statements of revenues and expenditures for the two preceding years, did not include a budget message, or did not include a general budget summary. In addition, budgets did not include beginning and projected ending fund balances. Without this information, the districts can not demonstrate compliance with state law requiring a balanced budget.
Also included in the report are over 60 specific recommendations made by independent auditors to improve the overall management of the fire districts. These recommendations included concerns regarding expenditure procedures, various accounting records and procedures, investments and pensions, fixed assets, pledged securities, unclaimed property, budgets, payroll and employee benefits. Of the 65 recommendations made during the 2003, only 33 were implemented, the remaining recommendations were repeated in the 2004 reports.