HANCOCK - A New York State Comptroller’s audit of the Hancock Rural Fire District found deficiencies in the Board of Fire Commissioners’ financial oversight, including incomplete fire protection contracts, missing required policies, overdue commissioner training and the failure to formally audit the treasurer’s records annually.
The audit, issued Sept. 4 by the Comptroller’s Division of Local Government and School Accountability, examined district operations from Jan. 1, 2024, through Nov. 14, 2025.
The district contracts with the village of Hancock for fire protection services outside the village and in a small portion of the Town of Tompkins. In 2025, the contract totaled $148,906, compared with total budgeted appropriations of $209,080.
The Comptroller’s Office identified three findings and issued eight recommendations for corrective action.
Fire truck payments not included in contracts
The audit found that the district’s 2024 and 2025 fire protection contracts did not include additional payments the district agreed to make toward the purchase of a fire truck.
The district agreed in 2024 to contribute $100,000 toward the truck through $50,000 installment payments in 2024 and 2025. The payments were discussed by commissioners, but the contracts were not formally amended and no public hearings were held concerning the additional expenditures.
The Comptroller’s Office said state town law requires notice and a public hearing before fire protection contracts are approved or amended.
District officials told auditors they were unsure how to handle the payments and were unaware that a public hearing was required.
The district did hold a public hearing before approving its 2026 contract and told auditors that future truck payments would be included in the contracts.
Required policies missing
The audit also found that the district had not adopted required procurement, investment and code of ethics policies.
Auditors reviewed all 16 disbursements that cleared the district’s bank between Jan. 1, 2024, and July 31, 2025, totaling $371,773.
Two purchases, totaling $11,337, would have been subject to the district’s procurement policy had one been in place. One was a $9,000 used truck purchased after officials considered whether renting or buying would be more economical. The other was a $2,337 purchase of 96 T-shirts for volunteers. In that case, the board obtained three quotes and selected a vendor based on quality and size requirements.
The audit did not identify those purchases as improper. Instead, it found that a written procurement policy was necessary to establish formal procedures for purchases below the state’s competitive bidding thresholds.
The board also had not formally adopted an investment policy, although it moved operating funds in April 2024 from a checking account earning 0.024% interest to a money market account earning 2.5%.
A code of ethics also had not been adopted.
Commissioners missed required training
None of the district’s five commissioners had completed mandatory fiscal oversight training within the required 270 days of taking office, according to the audit.
As of Nov. 14, 2025, two commissioners who began terms in 2022 were each 1,143 days past the deadline, one commissioner who began in 2023 was 778 days late and two commissioners who began terms in 2025 were 47 days late.
The board chairman told auditors he was unaware the policies were required and that commissioners were required to complete the training for each term they served.
The Comptroller’s Office said timely training would have better prepared commissioners to develop required policies and oversee the district’s financial operations.
Treasurer’s records not formally audited
The audit also found that the treasurer did not formally submit her 2024 books, records, receipts, claims and canceled check images to the Board of Fire Commissioners as required by Town Law.
The board also did not request the records or conduct an audit of the treasurer’s 2024 records. The treasurer told auditors she was unaware that the records had to be provided annually, while the board chairman was unsure when the treasurer’s records had last been audited.
The Comptroller’s Office said an annual audit provides an independent check that district funds are properly accounted for and transactions are accurately recorded.
District outlines corrective action
In an Aug. 10 response included in the audit, Commissioner Christopher Geer Sr. said district officials were unaware that the fire protection contract needed to be amended to reflect the truck contribution or that a public hearing was required.
Geer said the district had already held a public hearing concerning its contribution toward the next fire truck and its 2027 budget. Officials also notified the Village of Hancock that the truck bond payment would need to be included in the 2027 fire protection contract.
Regarding the missing policies, Geer said draft procurement, investment and code of ethics policies were awaiting board review and approval.
He also acknowledged that commissioners were out of compliance with the mandatory training requirement. He said the district had been looking for training opportunities closer to Hancock and suggested that online, weekend or locally offered classes would make the requirement easier to fulfill.
On the treasurer’s records, Geer said financial records had been available at board meetings but had not been formally audited or documented in the meeting minutes.
He said the district had implemented a formal audit of the 2025 records and would document in the minutes that the records were presented, reviewed and acted upon by the board.
The Comptroller’s Office said district officials generally agreed with the recommendations and planned to begin corrective action. The district is required to submit a written corrective action plan to the Comptroller’s Office within 90 days.
To review the audit report in its entirety click here.
