The Escambia County Clerk of Courts office has finished its audit of the volunteer fire departments and submitted a draft of its findings to County Administrator George Touart. The findings aren’t good.
Volunteer firefighters were overpaid an estimated $52,045 from Oct. 2006 through Feb 2007 – an average of $10,409 per month. About 25% of the stipend payments made were overpayments.
The report also shows that of the 395 volunteer firefighters less that 53% are certified or exempt from certification.
Here is the entire report. VFD Stipend Audit Draft
The county is preparing a response. The report and the response will both be presented to the Board of County Commissioners. The target date for that release is the commissioners’ August 2 meeting.