FIREFLY ADMIN INC.
  • HOME
  • SERVICES
  • ABOUT
    • LOSAP
    • CORE PRINCIPLES
  • BLOG
  • CONNECT
    • CONTACT US
    • SECURE FILE UPLOAD
  • ShareFile

Daily Douse

Eliminate the Practice of signing others into activities

4/30/2019

0 Comments

 
The recently released report on the Office of the State Comptroller audit of the Jamesport Fire District (you can download it below) has the following to say regarding signing others in for activities:
120 points were supported by attendance records where the member did
not sign themselves in. Instead, the members were marked as present by
someone else who initialed the sheet or signed the member in as present.
For example, on August 8, 2016 a company meeting sign-in sheet indicated
12 members were present for the meeting. However, only one of the 12
individuals signed in. The remaining 11 individuals had their last name
hand printed on the sheet with the initials of the individual signing them in
as present next to the printed name. The Secretary agreed that members
signing each other in for activities does happen. As a result, District officials
do not have adequate assurance that the members were actually present at
the activities they are signed in for.
Fourteen points were supported by manual attendance records where
the members did not sign themselves in. Instead, they were signed in as
present by someone else who initialed the sheet or signed the member in as
present. For example, on February 28, 2017 an event sign-in sheet indicates
eight members were present. However, only two of the eight individuals
signed themselves in. The remaining six individuals have their last name
hand printed on the sheet with the initials of the individuals signing them in
as present next to the printed name. The Secretary agreed that members
signing each other in for activities does happen. As a result, District officials
do not have adequate assurance that the members were actually present at
the activities they are signed in for.
What Do We Recommend?
The Board should:
1. Review and amend the District’s policy and point system, as appropriate,
to ensure conformity with GML.
District officials should:
2. Ensure LOSAP points are awarded in accordance with the District’s policy and GML.
3. Appropriately adjust certain members’ LOSAP credits to accurately reflect their credits earned.
4. Ensure that all points earned are accurately recorded and that sufficient records of the activities are maintained.
5. Discontinue the practice of allowing members to sign in for each other at training or other qualifying events.
Clearly, the State believes that members should not sign each other in. In general, most would agree that everyone should sign themselves into the activity, and the practice of having a chief or other officer sign a person in should be avoided. If it absolutely has to happen, it would be better if two officers vouched for the person.

Keep in mind, although this audit was focused on LOSAP, there are other reasons, in particular workers' comp coverage and benefits, why the individual should sign in himself/herself. 

Download the report and read it below:
jamesport_fire_district_-_losap_audit.pdf
File Size: 1996 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

0 Comments

Latest State LOSAP Audit - Part 2

4/29/2019

0 Comments

 
Last time we looked at a recent audit report released by the State Comptroller. Here is another section of the report, regarding the Miscellaneous Category:

Miscellaneous – GML authorizes a service award program to provide points for
“miscellaneous activities,” with one point per activity (up to a maximum of 15
points). For this purpose, GML defines “miscellaneous activities” as “participation
in inspections and other activities covered by the volunteer firefighters’ benefit
law and not otherwise listed.” The District’s system awards points for certain
miscellaneous activities such as parades, particular fundraising events or
funerals to a maximum of 15 points. However, Board resolutions dated 2014 and
2015 include awards of five points each for additional miscellaneous activities
such as probationary firefighter coordinator and various fundraising committee
positions such as the chairperson of bazaars, boot drives, letter campaigns,
raffles and 10K/5K runs. Providing five points for such “miscellaneous activity” is
not consistent with GML, which, as previously noted, permits only one point per
miscellaneous activity.

The thing to note here is that the OSC doesn't criticize the District for treating the probationary firefighter coordinator and committee positions as a "miscellaneous activity" - rather, that the District awarded five points for these activities. This seems to imply that the OSC is fine with a District awarding points to individuals acting as the chairperson of a committee. A District just cannot award more than one point to the chairperson. It has been generally understood that attending a committee meeting would be worth a point, but it wasn't clear if granting a point just for being a committee member or the chairperson would be acceptable. It would seem that it is - at least, this wasn't criticized in the report. 

0 Comments

Latest State Audit on LOSAP

4/26/2019

1 Comment

 
The Office of the State Comptroller recently released the latest LOSAP audit - this time the audit was of the Jamesport Fire District. You can download a copy at the end of this post.

There are several things to react to here, which we will do in some later posts. But off the top, the following are interesting:

Training Courses - the report indicates one point is awarded per hour (there are additional stipulations). The internal Fire District policy required that the training course be a minimum of one hour (not the statute). But in this case, members were being credited points for training courses that lasted less than one hour. The report doesn't indicate if the State's formal opinion is that training should be a minimum of one hour to receive a point, but the implication is certainly there and is something to be aware of.

Drills - the report criticizes the District for granting two points for drills that last four hours. On the surface, the literal text of the statute does state that only one point is awarded for a drill, and a drill must last a minimum of two hours. Therefore in theory a drill that lasts three or four hours is still just one drill and therefore one point. Similar to calls - some calls are 5 minutes, some are 5 hours - but the same credit is awarded for both (response credit that goes towards earning the points in that category). If your department is participating in drills that last four hours, the alternative may be to split the drill into two, two-hour parts, thereby making it two separate drills.

Officers - the report criticizes the District for granting 10 points to former chiefs. The report indicates that a former chief does not meet the definition of an elected or appointed position in the statute. This is something I have argued with clients in the past. But in some departments, the ex-chief actually has responsibility at a fire scene, and so therefore could fall under "line officer". So it would be important to make clear if a former chief has a responsibility or if it is just a "social" title.

​Download and read the report below:
jamesport_fire_district_-_losap_audit.pdf
File Size: 1996 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

1 Comment
<<Previous

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019

    Categories

    All
    Budgets & Costs
    COVID-19
    GASB & Accounting
    General
    LOSAP Point System
    Random

Picture
  • HOME
  • SERVICES
  • ABOUT
    • LOSAP
    • CORE PRINCIPLES
  • BLOG
  • CONNECT
    • CONTACT US
    • SECURE FILE UPLOAD
  • ShareFile