A Good Time to Audit
Our Own Union Books
Police and Law Enforcement News
Sunday, March 5, 2007 12:20 a.m.
Could your union
survive an external audit where every expense and expenditure were
put under a microscope?
Well, now might be
a good time to conduct your own internal audit.
A volunteer fire
department in Bergen County is in some hot water after it was
learned that some of the members took a trip to Mexico using
solicited contributions.
From
NorthJersey.com:
Bergen County
Prosecutor John Molinelli said Thursday that he is considering a
countywide probe of how volunteer fire departments raise and spend
donated funds.
The announcement of the possible grand jury presentment came a day
after Fairview police began investigating allegations that several
firefighters used solicited contributions to take a trip to Cancun,
Mexico.
"This is a matter that
has to be broadened in terms of scope; it's not just about
Fairview,'' Molinelli said. "This has come up before about the
solicitation of money by volunteer fire companies and how it is
spent. Without regard to whether it's criminal or not, a greater
issue is the public awareness of how [money] is spent."
Most unions are not going to have such
an obvious infraction, but what about the lesser ones? It's
easy to become complacent when spending money.
A good suggestion would be to hire and
accountant to audit your union's books once a year. Explain
that you want the books checked for anything that could be
considered a spending violation for a non-profit organization.
Also, incidents like the one in Bergen
County tend to blossom into state-wide flavor of the month.
Your own audit just might save some embarrassment and headache in
the event that some other group audits you.
NJLawman.com
Police and Law Enforcement News
Sunday, March 5, 2007 12:20 a.m. |
