Committee approves payment to rural fire/rescue program after accounting reconciliation; vendor previously received partial payments

The Coffee County Budget & Finance Committee approved a corrective payment Sept. 25 related to the county’s rural fire and rescue program after staff reconciled missing purchase orders and previous year obligations.

County staff explained that a multi‑year rural fire/rescue allocation program (originally funded at $250,000) required purchase orders and year‑by‑year approvals; bookkeeping failures and staff turnover left some vendors unpaid or PO requests unissued. The county purchasing and finance staff said they reviewed POs and payment history, issued payments to a vendor for a major equipment purchase, and asked the committee to approve an additional $41,667 (amount cited during discussion) to reconcile a shortfall to a specific rural fire department.

Staff described the problem as a combination of prior purchasing‑agent practices and the fire department’s internal bookkeeping; the committee approved a budget amendment to correct the rural capital projects fund accounting and to supply the requested funding. Commissioners emphasized the expectation that fire departments follow purchasing policies and that county staff will continue reporting and using cost‑center coding to avoid similar reconciliation issues in future years.

Why it matters: The vote resolves an outstanding vendor/payment issue arising from prior administrative errors and authorizes county funds from rural capital accounts to make fire/rescue partners whole for approved equipment purchases. County officials said the action does not create a new recurring commitment but rather corrects past accounting and ensures vendors are paid for completed work or equipment.