The Adair County fire department has turned over financial records to the Kentucky State Police after finding discrepancies that date back several years.
The department held a special called meeting Monday night that lasted for close to three hours. After the meeting, the Community Voice contacted the department’s information officer, Josh Brockman, who confirmed that an investigation is underway.
Brockman said discrepancies were found in the department’s financial reports, which led to an internal investigation. Brockman would not provide details about the discrepancies but the Community Voice has learned that tens of thousands of dollars may have been misappropriated.
While the department did not release any specific information about the internal investigation, Brockman did confirm that firefighter David Taylor was the department’s treasurer during the period in question. Taylor served as treasurer since 2011.
Brockman said Monday night “was an emotional meeting. There were a lot of feelings involved,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we felt that we have to be accountable to the residents of this county and see this thing through the way it is supposed to be done.”
The county fire department is a non-profit organization. While the county and city department work together the city’s financials are handled by city government and are separate from the county budget.
Brockman said the county department is responsible to its members, who pay dues.
“They have supported us for years and we don’t want to violate that trust,” Brockman said. “Once we find a problem we have to do everything we can do to correct it.”
Brockman said the department is still going back through previous years’ records and the internal investigation is not complete. The department is also initiating steps to correct its bookkeeping system to provide better accountability in the future.
There will be a complete report in Thursday’s edition of the Community Voice.
