Waste of the Day: Stay at Hotel 11 Miles Away
Topline: A Long Island fire department spent $6,725 on a two-night hotel stay 11 miles away from its firehouse, according to a new report from New York’s State Comptroller. The North Amityville department also made $59,130 in purchases without receipts or other supporting documentation from May 2023 to May 2024.
All told, the questionable spending amounted to $65,855 and it wasn’t the first time for the department.
The audit was a follow-up to an April 2023 report that found $586,000 in wasteful spending, including tickets to a “clothing-optional resort” and a diamond ring for the fire chief.
Key facts: The 12 hotel rooms were booked in Woodbury, N.Y. on July 29, 2023, to attend a company dinner. Three Board members, three chiefs, two captains and an executive assistant stayed for two nights each, and a secretary and business manager stayed for one night. The department also reserved a hospitality room for one night, with each night costing an average of $320.
The firemen claimed that two nights were necessary because they needed to arrange centerpieces and candles ahead of the dinner. The auditors wrote, “Setting up a venue for a dinner does not require an overnight stay. Therefore, that was a waste of Company funds.”
The fire department also made 18 purchases totaling $492 for alcohol, which their executive assistant claimed was mistakenly paid for from the wrong account. Auditors wrote that “Although this is a vast reduction in alcohol purchased … alcohol does not further Company purposes.” The 2023 report found $7,239 spent on alcohol.
There were $59,130 worth of purchases that did not have receipts, including $3,468 paid to a tire repair company, with no record of which vehicles were repaired. The audit suggests they could have been “non-company vehicles” that the firemen should have repaired with their own money.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Background: The 2023 audit was perhaps even more alarming than the most recent report. The clothing-optional resort trip cost $4,849, including airfare and limousine transport from New York to Jamaica for the former fire chief and his wife, who was the secretary of the board and daughter of the board chairman.
The prior chief spent $3,452 on a diamond ring for himself and $1,579 on a 14-karat gold ring for his wife.
There were also $30,997 worth of hotel stays without receipts, and $15,548 in gifts for a Christmas party, including video games and drones, the audit found.
The department also spent $16,744 on flights, including 11 flights for their spouses and children. The department could not explain “why any of the flights were necessary business expenses.”
Summary: North Amityville should be focused on putting out actual fires, not the metaphorical one caused by its latest public relations disaster.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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