Boardman firefighters union seeks audit of township funds

The township is working out details to accommodate the union’s request, a trustee said.

BOARDMAN — The firefighters union plans to pay for an in-depth audit of township finances to ensure members — and the public — are receiving accurate information.

The union has asked trustees for authorization to have the audit conducted, said Harry Wolfe, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 1176.

“We don’t want to do just a records request,” Wolfe said. “With a records request, they give you what they want to give you.”

A Cincinnati-area company, which Wolfe declined to identify, has asked to work within the township building while it conducts the audit. It needs township authorization to do that, the union president said.

The company specializes in government accounting, Wolfe said.

If trustees “are going to go all over town saying, ‘The township is broke. The township is broke,’ there should be no problem with this company coming in,” he said.

Trustee Chairman Larry Moliterno said he doesn’t have a problem with the union’s request.

Fiscal Officer William Leicht was talking to the state-auditor’s office, Moliterno said, to make sure the township is permitted to allow the company to come in and that the company’s work won’t take township employees away from their duties. Leicht was to send a letter to the union, he said.

“There’s no objection,” Moliterno said. “It’s just a matter of working out the details.”

Everything in the township regarding finances is public record, he said. If firefighters or other employees aren’t comfortable that they’re getting accurate numbers, he wants them to be able to take steps to confirm the information.

“We all have to come together and realize we all have the same goals here,” Moliterno said.

Trustee Robyn Gallitto said she also has no problem with anyone reviewing township financial information.

“I would just defer the mechanics to the fiscal office because, by law, they’re the custodian of the books,” she said.

Trustee Kathy Miller also has no objection to firefighters’ request.

Township officials await an analysis by the state-auditor’s office to determine if Boardman is at the brink of fiscal watch or emergency. Township officials have pegged $15.8 million as the revenue number to plan for in 2010. Projected costs, though, exceed $18 million.

The firefighters, however, worry because the state analysis covers only the general fund.

Moliterno said funds outside the general fund are restricted to particular purposes.

“How do I know they’re not moving $4 [million ] to $5 million from the general fund into some other funds?” Wolfe said.

The company will determine if information about the township’s financial difficulties is correct. Wolfe is concerned that trustees will ask employees to take drastic pay cuts or lay off people based on the state auditors’ findings.

“I don’t want them to hold the employees or the public hostage,” Wolfe said.

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