Just months after state auditors found significant shortcomings in procurement practices and financial transparency at the Middlesex Fire District, a new audit has identified additional weaknesses — this time within the Middlesex Hose Company, the volunteer organization that provides fire protection services in the district.
Taken together, the three audits paint a picture of organizations that have generally maintained operations and continued serving the community, but have struggled with basic financial controls, documentation and oversight.
Latest audit focuses on fundraising accountability
The newest audit, released in May, examined fundraising activities conducted by Middlesex Hose Company between January 2024 and December 2025.
Auditors found that company officials failed to ensure fundraising collections were properly recorded, reported and safeguarded. During the review period, current and former treasurers handled $108,893 in fundraising collections generated through activities such as roast beef dinners and annual fundraising drives.
According to the audit, officials did not maintain adequate supporting documentation, issue receipts or tickets for fundraising activities, prepare bank reconciliations or file required IRS Form 990 returns on time. Auditors also found the organization lacked reliable methods to track meal sales at fundraising dinners and failed to maintain detailed fundraising reports.
The comptroller’s office said those shortcomings left the executive committee without reliable information to oversee fundraising activities and increased the risk that money could be lost or stolen without detection.
One of the most significant findings involved federal reporting requirements. Auditors found the hose company failed to timely file IRS Form 990 returns for 2022, 2023 and 2024, resulting in federal penalties totaling $10,371.
Company officials pushed back on several findings, arguing that monthly reports were provided to members and that some improvements—including a new point-of-sale system to track fundraising sales—had already been implemented. Auditors maintained that the existing reports lacked the detail necessary for effective oversight and noted that concerns about fundraising irregularities had been identified during the audit entrance conference.
Earlier audits identified procurement and reporting failures
The latest findings follow two separate audits released in March that focused on Middlesex Fire District operations.
One audit examined procurement practices and concluded district officials did not ensure purchases were made in the most economical manner. The most serious finding involved a $564,065 tanker truck purchase that auditors said should have been competitively bid.
District officials classified the truck purchase as an emergency acquisition, but auditors found they could not demonstrate that the legal requirements for an emergency exception had been met. The comptroller’s office noted that the truck replacement was not an unforeseen event, that officials had not maintained a replacement schedule prior to the purchase, and that the truck had still not been delivered more than three years after the emergency declaration was made.
Auditors also found district officials failed to obtain required quotes for 14 purchases totaling $82,727 and estimated the district could have saved between $4,863 and $6,682 on certain equipment purchases by using state purchasing contracts.
A separate fiscal transparency audit found the district’s treasurer failed to file required Annual Financial Reports with the state for years. Auditors determined that reports for 2019 through 2024 remained unfiled as of October 2025, while the 2018 report was filed more than 1,100 days late.
Although auditors found monthly and annual financial reports were being provided to the Board of Fire Commissioners, they concluded the lack of required state filings diminished transparency and prevented taxpayers, residents and regulators from fully evaluating the district’s finances.
A recurring theme: Documentation and oversight
While the audits examined different organizations and different financial functions, a common theme emerges throughout all three reports.
Auditors repeatedly found that activities were occurring without sufficient documentation, reporting or verification.
In the fire district audits, the concerns centered on procurement records, competitive bidding and state financial reporting requirements. In the hose company audit, the focus shifted to fundraising controls, cash handling and federal tax filings.
Notably, auditors did not accuse either organization of theft, fraud or misuse of funds. Instead, the reports focus on weak internal controls and insufficient documentation that made it difficult to verify whether all funds were properly handled and whether purchasing decisions complied with applicable laws and policies.
Both organizations indicated corrective actions have either been implemented or are underway. The fire district adopted new procedures to ensure annual reports are filed and acknowledged changes to procurement documentation practices. The hose company said it has implemented a point-of-sale system to better track fundraising sales.
Whether those changes are enough to address the concerns raised across all three audits will likely become clearer during future reviews.
For now, the state comptroller’s office has identified a pattern of administrative and financial-control weaknesses spanning both the fire district and the volunteer company that serves it — issues that officials will now be expected to correct through formal corrective action plans and ongoing oversight.
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