COPENHAGEN, New York (WWNY) – As the Copenhagen Fire Department submits receipts to the village for expenses, the village is questioning some of them. The village says it’s another reason for its tough stance against the current department. But, the department says it’s following the rules.
Village officials made the department’s bank statements available to 7 News on Monday.
The department has several bank accounts, some of which are funded by taxpayers of the village and surrounding towns.
“We have bank statements like you’ve seen, but there aren’t copies of the deposit tickets or the cleared checks. There’s no information in the memo lines,” said Village Attorney Candace Randall.
While there are several statements for fire protection-related purchases, both Randall and Mayor Mark Souva wonder if all the taxpayer money is being used to further fire protection.
“We’ve been receiving two National Grid bills every single month to pay for reimbursement. That means the fire department has already used taxpayer funds to pay these two bills, and now they’re asking the village to reimburse them,” said Randall.
She says the village is okay reimbursing the department for the building where the fire trucks and gear are stored.
“The other one, to my understanding, is further back and houses all the drill team equipment. Not something that is used to further the fire protection contracts,” said Randall.
Copenhagen Fire Chief T..J Williams said the National Grid bill for the garage behind the fire station should be reimbursed. He said that building stores generators, pumps, and tools used for firefighting.
Randall and Souva also claim the department used taxpayer dollars to clean the fire hall, which the village attorney says costs about $600, purchase food for after-meeting meals, and trips to Long Island. Whether or not that was to further fire protection for the village, officials don’t know.
Randall and Souva say the statements are just pieces of a bigger puzzle: they don’t tell the full story. It’s part of why the village voted to dissolve the department, forcing the village and nearby towns to find different fire protection.
“Your taxpayer money is supposed to go strictly for firefighting endeavors and payments. There’s fundraising money that they get and go and spend to do what they want to do on their own,” said Souva.
The fire department said Monday it has paid for several things with its own funds and is waiting to be reimbursed.
“As far as any money this year, any taxpayers’ money from this year from each town that we contract with, the village still has it in their coffer. It hasn’t even paid one bill for this year and we’ve submitted plenty of bills to them,” said Williams.
It’s the latest on the future of the fire department after the village voted to disband it a couple weeks ago. There’s a petition going around that could force the issue to a public vote.
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