Clerical errors found during North Hempfield Volunteer Firefighters Relief Association audit being rectified, manager says

Issues found during a compliance audit of North Hempfield Volunteer Firefighters Relief Association, Inc. are being rectified, said township manager Aaron Siko.

The five findings were related to the station’s relief association being transferred to township oversight under the process to become nonchartered — handing over the station’s management and payment of expenses to township officials. North Hempfield was the first station to do so in 2021.

The September compliance audit released by the state Auditor General’s Office this week examined the relief association’s operations between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2023. The station’s relief association became the Hempfield Fire Department Relief Association in August 2022, according to the audit.

The title for a Ford utility truck purchased by the station in 2018 for $27,500 was not transferred between the relief associations, the audit found. That resulted in the truck not being properly safeguarded, and could result in the withholding of future state aid if not remedied.

Siko said that situation has been addressed and the appropriate documentation is being provided to the state.

Other minor findings in the audit included issues with the wording of bylaws, an insufficient amount of bond coverage and not having state and federal tax numbers separate from the fire station.

As a result of the nonchartered process, the Hempfield Fire Department Relief Association essentially inherited the issues the audit found and worked through them, Siko said. That association “is diligent in record keeping and ensuring everything is done to the standards set by the state,” he said.