Berlin Fire Company Seeking More Funding From Town

BERLIN – Berlin Fire Company officials are eager to share the organization’s funding needs with town leaders before a final budget for the coming year is approved.

During the public comment portion of Monday’s town council meeting, Berlin Fire Company (BFC) President David Fitzgerald said he wanted to present spreadsheets detailing the fire company’s financial situation before the council adopted the fiscal year 2018 budget in June.

“That may change your mind on some of the budget allocations,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said he was shocked to read Mayor Gee William’s comments in a local newspaper last week regarding the BFC’s failure to attend the town’s April 24 budget work session. Fitzgerald said fire company officials had been prepared to attend but noticed the BFC was not listed on the meeting’s agenda. He said when he contacted Town Administrator Laura Allen, she told him the BFC was not on the agenda because the independent audit the town mandated had not been completed.

Fitzgerald indicated that was not the fire company’s fault.

“The fire company was proactive,” he said.

According to Fitzgerald, the BFC turned over its books to Bergey and Company, the fire company’s accountant, in August but did not receive an engagement letter from PKS, the company the town pays to perform the fire company audit, until February.

“We packed all our books up the middle of August and took them to Mr. Bergey’s office,” Fitzgerald said. “Mr. Bergey was prepared to do the audit Labor Day. We did not get our engagement letter from PKS and the town until February. We signed it and turned that back in. Of course, that runs into where both accounting firms told both of us they’re busy with their tax season.”

Fitzgerald said the $400,000 allocated to the fire company in the town’s proposed budget would not be enough for the coming year, particularly if the $150,000 that included for capital reserves was earmarked for a funding study.

Williams said that while funding for the study — detailing the BFC’s long-term future financial needs — should come from the $150,000 portion of the grant, it wasn’t expected to be a $150,000 expense.

“I don’t think the study’s going to cost near that much,” he said.

Williams said town leaders wanted the study completed so they could have an idea, going into the future, of the fire company’s operating and equipment needs.

“I think the study would be very helpful,” Williams said, adding that officials wanted the same information from the fire company that they received from the town’s various departments. “We can’t just wing it.”

Williams told Fitzgerald the fire company was welcome to make its presentation June 12 when the council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget. Fitzgerald, however, said he wanted to do it before then because it might inspire officials to adjust the budget.

“The budget is the budget,” Williams replied, adding however that officials would be happy to listen to a presentation from the fire company.

Councilman Zack Tyndall told Fitzgerald that going forward, he’d like to see the fire company’s proposed capital expenditures by Jan. 1 each year.

“I think that falls in line with our other funding sources,” he said.

He also encouraged Fitzgerald to attend future budget work sessions whether the BFC was on the agenda or not.

“You’re invited,” he said. “Regardless of the audit. I’d like to see a fire company face there.”

When asked Tuesday why the town didn’t contact the fire company regarding the audit until February, Williams said it all came down to a communication problem.

“Mr. Fitzgerald was contacted Jan. 19 with a follow-up on Feb. 6,” Williams said. “It does not seem practical to me that the response to that we get on May 22.”

He said Fitzgerald’s comments Monday were the first he’d heard of any problem with the audit, which he pointed out was a regular occurrence. The BFC has been required to submit an independent annual audit since 2014, when the town restored its funding following settlement of the harassment lawsuit filed against the fire company.

“We’re supposed to get it at the beginning of the budget process,” Williams said, pointing out that the fire company submitted the audit late each year.

He said the grant awarded to the fire company each year was the largest one the town distributed. The various nonprofits that receive grants from the town each make a formal request to the council during the budget development process.

“There has always been an expectation that the fire company would make a request for their grant,” he said.

Williams stressed that town officials were “extraordinarily accessible” and that communication between the two parties should not be difficult. He said the town would not be changing its budget process though, whether the fire company’s accountant was able to accommodate an audit at the beginning of each calendar year or not.

“We’re not going to have two budget processes because it’s inconvenient to someone,” he said.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.