The Newcastle Selectmen and the town finance committee will require provider (nonprofit) agencies seeking town funding, including the town volunteer fire department, to present detailed fiscal information.
However, they will no longer require certified professional audits.
The proposal was adopted following a recent controversy involving the private volunteer fire company that provides services to the town under the name Newcastle Fire Dept.
The fire company officials objected to the selectmen’s earlier attempts to require them to provide an audited financial statement in order to receive town funding.
Instead they presented a statement from one of their members that claimed the books were in order.
At Monday’s meeting, the Newcastle selectmen adopted rules, proposed by the town finance committee, requiring nonprofit agencies seeking town tax dollars to present an audited fiscal statement, or submit a representation of basic financial information.
This must include: Year-end balance sheets listing assets, liabilities and balances, income statements, and profit and loss statements.
In addition, the agencies’ statement must be signed by the organization’s treasurer, and include a copy of the operating budget along with disclosure of current funding sources including grant applications and other similar requests for funds.
Selectman Lee Straw said the town has no list of what the private fire company owns, and what is taxpayer owned.
That is why the fire company needs to submit a list of assets, said Straw.
Tom Stevens, a fire company member, told selectman the private company owns four fire trucks plus an antique Maxim pumper. He said Truck Six, a 1984 model, is the only fire truck owned by the town.
The town owns the Sheepscot Fire Station and the main Newcastle firehouse on River Road.
Stevens said under the law, the fire company is not required to submit a financial statement to the town, but he noted the controversy over their failure to provide an audited statement might cause a problem when they try to raise funds.
Fire officials said an audit would be too expensive.
