Making the Case for Concern

When I purchased my home on West Elbon Road, it wasn’t because it was a relic of 1992 frozen in time. I loved that there was an elementary school, police station and firehouse within a two block radius. However, I don’t believe any entity, no matter how many lives you save, is exempt from financial transparency when it comes to how they spend taxpayer dollars. It is not uncommon to see volunteer fire companies make headlines for embezzlement. Many may remember it happened at South Media Fire Co. just a few years ago. 

To quote the Parkside Fire Company’s Relief Association Audit Report dated 2013:

“Volunteer firefighters’ relief associations receive public tax monies, and the association officers therefore have a responsibility to the public to conduct the association’s financial affairs in a businesslike manner and to maintain sufficient financial records to support the propriety of all association transactions.” 

This audit report was stellar, by the way, under the leadership of former Parkside Fire Company President Patricia Iacono (To be clear, Relief Association funds are a separate entity from the Fire Company itself). It seems it only went downhill from there. On the heels of the arrest of Parkside Borough Councilman Robert Powers for multiple thefts of needless items, it’s important to note that he also had access to the fire company’s funds as President of Parkside Fire Company. it becomes even more apparent that an audit is needed to reassure the taxpayers of Parkside that their investment in the firehouse was spent properly. 

You don’t have to take a very close look to start seeing some red flags pop up. Before I run through them, I want to say that the goal here is not to see the Parkside Fire Company shuttered. My concern is that if someone has improperly used those funds, they need to be held accountable. We cannot even begin to repair the disastrous financial situation at the firehouse if we don’t understand the scope of it. 

8 P.a. C.S. § 1202 (56) requires fire companies receiving tax payer funds to provide an annual itemized report of how that money was spent; however, the Parkside Fire Company agreed to provide quarterly reports to Council when they asked for additional taxpayer funding in 2020. The borough firehouse contribution jumped from $10K per year to $97,500 in 2021, $130,000 in 2022, and $135,000 for 2023. 

I filed FOIA requests to obtain the financial reports provided by the firehouse to the borough, and while some leave much to the imagination, and sometimes more questions than answers, the key takeaway is that there is still roughly $80K unaccounted for. You can review a summary and copies of these reports here. 

Following the fire company’s failure to produce substantial, itemized financial documentation regarding taxpayer funds, Parkside Borough Council adopted Resolution 1853 in August 2022 to outline its’ expectations for compliance from the fire company, including submitting a copy of their annual IRS 990 nonprofit tax reporting. 

I sat on hold with the IRS for nearly an hour to confirm that, despite what I and many of Parkside residents have been told, Parkside Fire Company’s nonprofit status was automatically revoked on May 15, 2018 for failure to file their IRS Form 990 for 3 consecutive years and are no longer registered with the IRS as a nonprofit entity. The Parkside Fire Company’s 2012 filing shows a nearly $80K surplus of revenue over expenses. The following year, the 2013 filing shows a decline, with approximately $20K in surplus.  The last 990 form filed is from 2014 now operating in the red with a $70K deficit. They have not filed a 990 since.  

I reached out to Robert Powers via email in April 2023 to request a copy of their most recently filed 990 but he could not produce one, blaming former Parkside Mayor and former Parkside Fire Company Treasurer Thomas Deitman before devolving into a contentious accusation that my questions were an attempt to shut down the firehouse. You can read that exchange here. 

During our email exchange, Mr. Powers asserts the fire company has multiple EINs, but it remains unclear what those other business entities are and if their funds and bank accounts are separate. Taxpayer dollars should only be used to fund emergency fire services, not to subsidize a recreation hall that is rented out for parties, or a social club. 

I tracked down Mr. Deitman, who refuted Mr. Powers’ version of events in our conversations. He asserted that all financial records were turned over in August 2021 and locked in an office that only executive officers had access to. Mr. Deitman, who served as the fire company’s treasurer for approximately 16 months, hired Ronald Woodworth CPA in Newtown Square to help arrange a payment plan of arrears in federal and state taxes. He contacted Mr. Woodworth who, despite Mr. Powers' statement that he refused to turn over records because of a past due balance, said there was nothing owed to him for previous work done. This information makes apparent the loss of the fire company’s nonprofit, tax exempt status in 2018. 

Following the Parkside Fire Company’s previously mentioned outstanding Relief Association Audit in 2013, the next audit is dated April 2018 for the period January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. Notably, the audit report is addressed to the Parkside Fire Company President, now Robert Powers. This is the period following the fire company’s last filed 990 with the IRS from 2014. The 2018 audit paints a grim picture, showing a poorly managed financial recordkeeping process, failure to document approval for financial transactions in meeting minutes, and a failure to maintain an equipment roster that accounted for the $25,000 in relief association funds spent on equipment. 

The next relief association audit is dated March 2023 for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021. This audit was worse than the previous one, failing to correct many of the previous findings and now with additional infractions, including undocumented expenditures and checks issued with no or one signature despite two signatures being required. 

In his role as borough councilman, Mr. Powers has stated repeatedly that the Parkside Fire Company would shut down without the taxpayer dollars afforded to them each year by the borough, although it’s unclear what percentage of the fire company’s budget is paid for by borough funds. Councilwoman Shirley Purcival has maintained that Parkside Borough Council has no legal right to audit the fire company’s finances because they are a private entity and council is only entitled to financial information related to expenditures of taxpayer funds. Taxpayers are entitled to more than just the bare minimum of information. While I've included firehouse reports that simply state "general operating expenses" into the total taxpayer funds that are accounted for, those reports are neither acceptable nor transparent. The estimate is realistically well over the $80K that is unaccounted for. 

On May 24, 2023, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in Pysher v. Clinton Twp. Volunteer Fire Co. that volunteer fire companies are subject to the FOIA if they would cease to exist without public dollars. This ruling essentially affirms that Parkside Fire Company is subject to FOIA requests, but the question remains, if financial information is requested, does it even exist? 

Despite claims of financial mismanagement from prior administrations, Robert Powers has continuously pushed back on an audit of the firehouse finances. In the March 2023 borough council meeting, following the release of the relief association audit report, he agreed to an audit (after also extending plenty of blame on the former fire chief for inappropriate spending), then became combative and reversed course the following month.

The goal has never been to shut down the firehouse. Taxpayers deserve transparency and assurances that the tax dollars they fork over year after year are being spent prudently. Given that the Parkside Fire Company president has been arrested for multiple counts of thefts, I would expect that the fire company would be more than willing to submit to an audit and provide that assurance to the residents whose tax dollars keep their doors open.

A bad audit does not mean the fire company shuts down. It is up to the fire company whether they want to comply with an audit, or choose to shut down in the absence of more tax dollars to protect their books. I think it’s awfully telling that the latter is even an option.