{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[36, "wa-sao", "1021303", "2017-002", null, "WA", "Mason County Fire Protection District No 18", "Fire Protection District", "0300", null, "not_municipal", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Accountability audit \u2014 Mason County Fire Protection District No 18", "Accountability", 2017, "2016-01-01", "2017-12-31", "2018-05-21", "internal_controls", null, null, null, "The District did not have adequate controls over payroll and disbursements to ensure expenditures were adequately supported and for District business", "Background \nMason County Fire Protection District No. 18 is located in Mason County and \nserves the Lake Cushman area. The District\u2019s operating expenditures totaled about \n$225,000 and $250,000 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. \nDistrict management is responsible for establishing effective internal controls to \nensure public funds are adequately safeguarded. \nDescription of Condition \nWe identified the following deficiencies in internal controls: \nPayroll \n\u2022 There was not a detailed review of payments to volunteers and \ncommissioners by someone independent of the payroll process to ensure \npayments were correctly calculated and adequately supported. \nDisbursements and credit cards \n\u2022 There was not a detailed review of warrants or credit card transactions by \nsomeone independent of t he disbursement process to ensure accuracy and \ncompliance with District policy. \n\u2022 The District did not have a process in place to ensure adequate support was \nretained for all purchases and warrants paid. \nCause of Condition \nThe District staff responsible for payroll and disbursements lacked adequate \ntraining and resources to establish adequate internal controls. In addition, District \nmanagement did not dedicate sufficient resources or monitoring to ensure effective \ninternal controls were established and consistently applied. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 10 \nEffect of Condition \nPayroll \nThe District primarily consists of volunteer firefighters who are paid, based on \npoints earned, on a quarterly basis. In addition, Commissioners are compensated \n$114 for each meeting, once a month. \nWe tested payments to volunteers and noted the District did not have records to \nsupport the four quarterly volunteer payments in 2016. \nWe also tested eight months, or 57 meetings, for Commissioners and noted the \nDistrict: \n\u2022 Did not have meeting activity logs for four months \n\u2022 Did not have adequate support for six of the meetings to verify they were \nfor legitimate District business \nWe also noted that Commissioners who also serve as volunteers receive \ncompensation for responding to calls and attending drills in addition to their \nCommissioner compensation. The District was not able to demonstrate payments \nto volunteers were made with the intent to reimburse expenses; therefore, \ncompensation to Commissioners for volunteer services might be unallowable \n(RCW 52.14.010). \nDisbursements and credit cards \nWe reviewed 68 disbursement transactions and 29 credit card transactions and \nidentified the following: \n\u2022 Four disbursement transactions, totaling $2,741, did not have adequate \nsupporting documentation. \n\u2022 Eight credit card transactions , totaling $374, did not have adequate \nsupporting documentation to ensure each purchase was allowable under \nstate law and district policy, and that each transaction was for District use. \n\u2022 The District was not able to provide the 2016 December-January credit card \nstatement. \n \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 11 \nRecommendation \nWe recommend the District: \n\u2022 Establish written policies and procedures for disbursements and payroll and \nensure monitoring is adequate to prevent misappropriation \n\u2022 Ensure adequate segregation of duties and monitoring over the general and \npayroll disbursement processes \nFinally, we recommend the District ensure employees responsible for key internal \ncontrols receive adequate training to effectively perform their duties. \nDistrict\u2019s Response \nOn December 31 st, 2016 we had a change of district secretary and then the \ntermination of our Fire Chief on January 13 th, 2017. This all prompted \nconsiderable examination of our policies and procedures that were in place. \nMason County Fire District 18 adopted many new polic ies on March 31 st, 2017. \nThe petty cash policy was included in this grouping. The Cash receipting policy has \nbeen instituted in accordance with RCW 43.09.240 \nWe now have a detailed review and audit of all payments made to our volunteers \nand procedures set in place to monitor warrants and credit card transactions. \nPrior to our onsite audit, most of the issues noted had been addressed. The \nrecommendations from the State Auditor\u2019s office regarding findings noted will be \nimplemented where appropriate. \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe want to thank the District for its assistance throughout the audit and the steps it \nis taking to address the issues. The District\u2019s status of corrective actions will be \nreviewed during our next audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nRCW 43.09.200 \u2013 Local government accounting; Uniform system of accounting, \nrequires the State Auditor to prescribe the system of accounting and reporting for \nall local governments. \nThe Budgeting, Accounting and Reporting System (BARS) Manual, 3.1.3, Internal \nControl, requires each local government to establish and maintain an effective \nsystem of internal controls that provides reasonable assurance that the government \nwill achieve its objectives. \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 12 \nThe Budgeting, Accounting, and Reporting System Manual (BARS), 3.14, \nAccounting Principles and Internal Control outlines the local government\u2019s \nresponsibility for obtaining and retention of original vouchers, receipts and other \ndocuments. \nRCW 43.09.2855 \u2013 Local governments; Use of credit cards requires local \ngovernments to adopt a system for the distribution of the credit cards, the \nauthorization and control of the use of credit cards, the credit limits available on \nthe credit cards, payment of the bills, and any other rule necessary to implement or \nadminister the system outlined in the RCW.\n \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 13 \nINFORMATION ABOUT THE DISTRICT \nMason County Fire Protection District No. 18 has served the Lake Cushman area of Mason County \nsince 1977. The District primarily consists of volunteer firefighters but does have a paid fire chief \nand secretary. \nAn elected, three-member Board of Commissioners governs the District. During fiscal years 2016 \nand 2017, the District received approximately $350,000 in revenues , primarily from property \ntaxes. \nContact information related to this report \nAddress: Mason County Fire Protection District No. 18 \n240 N. Standstill Drive S. \nHoodsport, WA 98548 \nContact: Mike Sexton, Fire Chief \nTelephone: (360) 877-9882 \nInformation current as of report publish date. \n \nAudit history \nYou can find current and past audit reports for Mason County Fire Protection District No. 18 at \nhttp://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor\u2019s Office Page 14 \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 serves \nfour-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 accounta ble for the use of public \nresources, we also hold ourselves accountable by continually 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 in dependence 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 comp liance 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 audits of state agencies and local \ngovernments as well as fraud, state whistleblower and citizen hotline\n investigations. \nThe results of our work are widely distributed through a variety of reports, which are available on \nour 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=1021303&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": ["36"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.7581429933197796, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}