Office of the Nassau County Comptroller

Faulty fire alarm systems in buildings, stores and industrial buildings throughout Nassau County are not being fixed due to a two-year backlog in entering false alarm data in a county computer system, a new audit by the county Comptroller’s Office has found.

“The backlog makes it almost impossible for the county to issue appearance tickets for fire alarm violations, reducing the incentive for owners to repair them,” Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman said today in releasing the audit report of the county’s Fire Commission. “Obviously, when faulty alarms are not fixed promptly, fire departments will continue to respond to false alarms, diverting them from real emergencies and placing the public and firefighters at risk.

“Not only does this backlog endanger public safety, it also means that fines of up to $5,000 per violation are not being assessed, likely costing the county tens of thousands of dollars in uncollected revenue every year,” Mr. Weitzman said.

The audit of the Fire Commission, whose inspectors enforce the county’s fire prevention regulations, found that it suffers from inefficient billing practices, obsolete equipment, and staff shortages, resulting in spotty enforcement of fire regulations and lost revenue from fines and fees for inspection services.

“In addition to failing to assess fines for many violations, the Commission performs many activities for which it either does not charge, or does not charge enough to recover the cost of the services,” Mr. Weitzman said.

services provided to municipal water, fire and school districts, which are generally uncompensated (except for annual school inspections);
responses to hazardous waste spills caused by private individuals or corporations, for which the Commission fails to bill responsible parties; and
certain building inspections, for which the Commission charges fixed fees, regardless of the size of the building or the cost incurred to provide inspection services.

As an example, the report cites tests of emergency lights in schools, which are performed annually. The fee charged for any facility over 10,000 square feet is fixed at $325, which does not cover the cost of inspecting large schools, several of which exceed 100,000 square feet.

“In some instances, the fault lies with the Commission itself for failing to charge adequately for its services; in others, the Commission needs to ask the County Legislature to authorize new fees or a revised fee schedule,” Mr. Weitzman said.

Among the other findings, the audit, covering the period from 2001-2003, found:

The Commission failed to perform important night or weekend inspections in 2002, in an attempt to reduce overtime. These included inspections of propane refill stations on the weekends, when they are at their busiest; and night or weekend inspections of gas stations;
The policy of avoiding enforcement activities requiring overtime was counterproductive, as the activities cut back would have generated revenues for the county well in excess of the cost of the overtime. This policy, in force throughout 2002, resulted in a net revenue loss to the county of approximately $205,000. The no-overtime policy was apparently rescinded in the second half of 2003;
Highly trained fire inspectors are often required to perform clerical duties, apparently due to a lack of clerical positions, making them unavailable for vital safety enforcement activities; and
The commission’s computerized fee collection system is unable to generate reports of delinquent accounts, or automatic notifications to permittees that their accounts are delinquent, costing the county thousands in unpaid permit fees and late payments. Also, the computer system is outdated, no longer supported by its vendor, and lacks any backup system, making it (and the Commission’s revenue stream) highly vulnerable to a breakdown.

The full audit report, including the Commission’s responses to the audit findings, is available:

COMPTROLLER’S AUDIT FINDS WEAK ENFORCEMENT AND LOST REVENUE AT FIRE INSPECTION AGENCY

COMPTROLLER’S AUDIT FINDS WEAK ENFORCEMENT AND
LOST REVENUE AT FIRE INSPECTION AGENCY