{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[13, "wa-sao", "1020241", "2016-001", null, "WA", "Shoreline Fire Department", "Fire Protection District", "1126", null, "not_municipal", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Accountability audit \u2014 Shoreline Fire Department", "Accountability", 2016, "2016-01-01", "2016-12-31", "2018-08-27", "procurement", null, null, null, "The District did not verify purchases made through its purchasing cooperative complied with the state laws and regulations", "Background \nFire districts are required to competitively bid all purchases over $50,000 \n(RCW 52.14.110). Specifications for the purchases must be available to all \ninterested parties and must be approved by the governing body. The submitted \nbids must be opened and read publicly at a fixed time and place. \nState law allows fire districts to fulfill bidding requirements through a process \nreferred to as piggybacking. \u201cPiggybacking\u201d refers to one local government \nmaking purchases from contracts awarded by another government or group of \ngovernments via an interlocal agreement or contract. To ensure compliance when \nprocuring through piggybacking, the local government must ensure its own \nbidding requirements are met before expending public funds. \nDescription of Condition \nIn 2016, Shoreline Fire District entered into a purchasing cooperative to purchase \na ladder truck totaling $1,187,500. The District observed other public agencies \nuse the same purchasing group and verified state law authorized the use of \npurchasing cooperatives. \nHowever, the District did not ensure the procurement process used by the \npurchasing cooperative complied with Washington bid requirements. The \npurchasing cooperative selected a vendor using a request for proposal process, \nrather than a formal competitive bidding process. \nCause of Condition \nThe purchasing cooperative\u2019s procurement method complied with the out -of-state \nlead agency\u2019s bid requirements; however, it did not satisfy the procurement \nregulations in Washington. The District believed all Washington procurement \nregulations were met by entering into the cooperative contract. However, the \nDistrict did not know they were required to verify and maintain evidence that \nWashington\u2019s bid laws were satisfied. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 6 \nEffect of Condition \nThe District cannot demonstra te it adequately safeguarded public resources by \nensuring that the purchase complied with the District\u2019s applicable laws and \nregulations. \nRecommendation \nWe recommend the District ensure that purchases made through purchasing \ncooperatives or other governmen t municipalities comply with the District\u2019s \napplicable laws and regulations. In addition, the District should retain \ndocumentation of its efforts to verify the purchase complied with Washington \nprocurement regulations before making the purchase. \nDistrict\u2019s Response \nThe Shoreline Fire Department is committed to cooperating with the State \nAuditor to ensure that our Department is managed and operated in full \ncompliance with the law. The Department is also committed to complying with all \npublic bidding laws to ensure that public funds are spent in the most responsible \nand efficient manner possible. \nUnfortunately, when purchasing the ladder truck, our Department did not ensure \nthe procurement process used by the purchasing cooperative complied with \nWashington St ate bid requirements. This was an unintentional oversight of our \npolicy language; however, the purpose of engaging with this purchasing \ncooperative was solely in the interest of saving the taxpayers money. In the end, \nwe believe that this purchase resulted in savings to the citizens as we were \nprovided with multiple discounts. \nAlthough we had this misstep, the Department felt due diligence was applied by \nresearching the purchasing cooperative contract with Pierce, other public \nagencies that had made the pu rchases under the same contract, reading of the \nWashington State Interlocal Cooperative Act, and solicitation of a legal opinion \nfrom counsel. The language of the Interlocal Cooperative Act authorized the use \nof the purchasing cooperative contract. While we disagree with the decision to \nissue the Department a finding, we understand that it was our responsibility to \ncollect and maintain evidence that Washington\u2019s bid laws were satisfied. \nWe are planning to implement additional internal controls to ensure that the State \nbid requirements are met going forward by requiring that employees responsible \nfor purchasing on behalf of the Department to present verification to the \nCommissioners that all statutory requirements have been met before a request for \napproval is presented to the Board. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 7 \nIn conclusion, our Department performed due diligence in evaluating and \ninitiating the purchase, but erred in piggybacki ng onto a contract that was \nnon-compliant with State law. This error likely did not cost our taxpayers \nadditional funds, but we recognize the importance of being compliant with bid \nlaws. The Department views these annual audits as a part of our continuing \nquality improvement process meant t o improve our methods for safeguarding the \ncitizen's dollars. \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe appreciate the District\u2019s commitment to resolve the finding and thank the \nDistrict for its cooperation and assistance during the audit. We will review the \ncorrective action take during our next regular audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nRCW 52.14.110, Purchases and public works \u2013 Competitive bids required \u2013 \nExceptions, establishes the procurement thresholds for fire protection district. \nRCW 39.34.030 (5)(b), Joint powers\u2014Agreements for joint or cooperative action, \nrequisites, effect on responsibilities of component agencies \u2014Joint utilization of \narchitectural or engineering services \u2014Financing of joint projects, states that \nentering into a cooperative agreement does not reli eve any public agency of its \nresponsibility imposed upon by law. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 8 \nRELATED REPORTS \nFinancial \nOur opinion on the District\u2019s financial statements is provided in a separate report, which includes \nthe District\u2019s financial statements. That report is available on our website , \nhttp://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch . \n \n \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 9 \nINFORMATION ABOUT TH E DISTRICT \nKing County Fire Protection District No. 4 was formed in 1939 and now operates as Shoreline \nFire Department. The District serves a population of approximately 55,000 citizens within the \nCity of Shoreline, approximately 14 square-miles. In addition, the ALS program serves the cities \nof Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park and a portion of Woodinville resulting in an additional \npopulation of 75,000 in an area of approximately 22 square-miles. The District provides 24 -hour \ncoverage for fire suppression, technical rescue, emergency medical and advanced life support, \nfire prevention and education, fire investigations, inspections and code co mpliance to its service \narea. \nAn elected, five -member Board of Commissioners governs the District. The Board appoints a \nFire Chief to oversee the District \u2019s daily operations as well as its 120 employees. In fiscal year \n2016, the District operated on an annual budget of about $24.6 million. \nContact information related to this report \nAddress: Shoreline Fire Department \n17525 Aurora Avenue N. \nShoreline, WA 98133 \nContact: Joyce Brown, Administrative Director \nTelephone: (206) 533-6570 \nWebsite: www.shorelinefire.com \nInformation current as of report publish date. \n \nAudit history \nYou can find cur rent and past audit reports for Shoreline Fire Department at \nhttp://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch . \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 10 \nABOUT THE STATE A UDITOR\u2019S OFFICE \nThe State Auditor's Office is established in the state's Constitution and is part of the executive \nbranch of state government. The State Auditor is elected by the citizens of Washington and \nserves four-year terms. \nWe work with our audit clients and citizens to achieve our vision of government that works for \ncitizens, by helping governments work better, cost less, deliver higher value, and earn greater \npublic trust. \nIn fulfilling our mission to hold state and local governments accountable for the use of public \nresources, we also hold ourselves accountable by conti nually improving our audit quality and \noperational efficiency and developing highly engaged and committed employees. \nAs an elected agency, the State Auditor's Office has the independence necessary to objectively \nperform audits and investigations. Our audits are designed to comply with professional standards \nas well as to satisfy the requirements of federal, state, and local laws. \nOur audits look at financial information and compliance with state, federal and local laws on the \npart of all local governments, including schools, and all state agencies, including institutions of \nhigher education. In addition, we conduct performance audi ts of state agencies and local \ngovernments as well as fraud, state whistleblower and citizen hotline investigations. \nThe results of our work are widely distributed through a variety of reports, which are available \non our website and through our free, electronic subscription service. \nWe take our role as partners in accountability seriously, and provide training and technical \nassistance to governments, and have an extensive quality assurance program. \nContact information for the State Auditor\u2019s Office \nPublic Records requests PublicRecords@sao.wa.gov \nMain telephone (360) 902-0370 \nToll-free Citizen Hotline (866) 902-3900 \nWebsite www.sao.wa.gov", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1020241&isFinding=false&sp=false", "2026-07-30 13:24:54"]], "columns": ["rowid", "source", "report_number", "finding_number", "muni_id", "state", "entity_name", "entity_type", "entity_ext_id", "place_geoid", "match_method", "auditor", "report_title", "audit_type", "fiscal_year", "period_start", "period_end", "published_date", "finding_category", "severity", "questioned_cost", "cost_basis", "finding_title", "finding_text", "report_url", "fetched_at"], "primary_keys": ["rowid"], "primary_key_values": ["13"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 30.258357001002878, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}