It’s not all fighting fires and responding to crashes for volunteer firefighters, they also have to properly manage the millions of dollar in state funding for their operations every quarter. During the Legislative Interim meeting in the Post Audits Subcommittee, Audit Manager in the Post Audit Division, Mike Jones told lawmakers each quarter the state disburses about $32 million to 428 volunteer fire departments in the state and random audits are selected.
“Of the 94 departments audited, 27 were found to be in full compliance with the applicable section of West Virginia code and had no audit findings,” Jones said.
A total of 67 volunteer fire department had audit findings with about two percent of the total funds distributed. The infractions included commingled funds, unallowable and unsupported expenditures. “These 67 department had differing combinations of commingled funds, unallowable expenditures, and unsupported expenditures totaling $215,000,” Jones said.