13-03-2025
Senate bill streamlines audits of volunteer fire departments
CHARLESTON — Volunteer fire departments in West Virginia are under the microscope in the current session of the West Virginia Legislature.
The West Virginia Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed Senate Bill 500, giving the West Virginia Legislative Auditor "the authority and duty to make a regular review of the finances of each volunteer fire company" in the state.
Under existing West Virginia law, both the Legislative Auditor and the State Auditor conduct rolling audits of each of the state's more than 400 volunteer fire departments. Customarily, the Legislative Auditor reviews only state funds a volunteer fire department received during a fiscal year, while the State Auditor reviews each department's entire finances.
"Senate Bill 500 will eliminate this unnecessary overlap making the process more efficient and removing the burden of duplicative financial examinations by multiple state agencies," State Auditor Mark Hunt said.
Although SB 500 consolidates the audits of volunteer fire departments with the Legislative Auditor, existing state Code will remain unchanged as to the requirement that audits or financial examinations "shall be scheduled as to complete a review of each volunteer fire company at least once every five years."
Hunt credited State Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio County, for sponsoring the bill and bringing the issue before the Legislature.
"Under current law, which will remain unchanged, the scope of the audits will include all income of the volunteer fire departments, regardless of the source of funds, the assets, liabilities, and all expenditures of the departments," Chapman said. "Likewise, current law also provides that our volunteer fire departments may be audited more than once in a five-year period if there is reason to think that loss, mismanagement, misuse, or waste of funds is occurring."
In those instances, SB 500 would require the Legislative Auditor — "upon discovering any concerning or suspicious financial transactions" — to report the matter to the State Auditor's Office "to investigate and pursue correction or prosecution … of any misconduct, mismanagement, misuse, or waste."
Senate Bill 500 now goes to the West Virginia House of Delegates for consideration and passage. The Legislature's 60-day regular session concludes on April 12.
