Audit letter sent to media a year late

MOSES LAKE - A warning letter sent to Grant County Fire District No. 5 in 2007 by the state Auditor's Office arrived last week at the Columbia Basin Herald. The letter didn't contain any findings.

The problems listed in the letter covering a 2004-2005 audit were fixed and a following audit was uneventful, said Pat Hochstatter, the fire district's board chairman.

But he and other fire officials were perplexed about why the letter was sent to media more than one year later.

"It just got backed up administratively," said Mindy Chambers, a spokesperson with the state agency. "So we'll have to proceed from there."

The management letter claimed the fire district wasn't able to collect $71,000 in overdue ambulance bills from residents who didn't have insurance or weren't receiving Medicare.

During the audit, the $71,000 was sent to a collections agency, Hochstatter said.

The fire district is currently collecting payments on the accounts and using a new contracted billing agency that provides more timely information to the fire district's board, said Hochstatter.

The letter also states a contract wasn't in place for ambulance services that the fire district provided to the City of Ephrata for free during the audit period. (Ephrata and the fire district recently signed a $29,610 annual contract for ambulance services.)

Ephrata used to provide ambulance services for its residents, he explained.

When Ephrata quit providing the service, a lawsuit was feared between the city and the union firefighters, which prevented a contract from being signed, he said.

During that time, the state Department of Health granted the fire district an operator's license for that area, which is more important than a contract with Ephrata, he believes.

The letter also included claims the fire district didn't use a receipt book for a year, have supporting documentation for regular and overtime hours, consistently track vacation and sick leave and have signed board meeting minutes.

When explaining why receipts weren't issued for a year, he said the fire district doesn't receive much money.

When a donation was received, the money would show up on monthly financial reports that were reviewed by the board.

Hochstatter said the special overtime sheets weren't always filled out or approved. The form was revised and tracking improved, he said.

Much of the firefighters' summer work hours are reimbursed by the state if they're out on a mobilization fire, he said. In that case, there isn't a cost to the fire district, he said.

He thought the issues over vacation and sick leave was fire Chief Roger Hansen's longtime method of tracking his time by writing it on a calendar.

Another issue is that board meeting minutes weren't signed. But the minutes were approved during each meeting and stored in a binder, said Hochstatter.

He said he wasn't making light of the letter. He added the best part of the audit was that it improved the fire district's system of accountability to avoid embezzlement.

Since the audit, an EMS manager was hired who can help with checks and balances, he said.