THORNDALE, PA — The Thorndale Volunteer Fireman’s Relief Association could lose future state aid after Pennsylvania auditors identified $27,268 in unauthorized, potentially misappropriated or undocumented expenditures and found broader weaknesses in the organization’s financial controls during a five-year review.
The Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General found the association did not comply “in all significant respects” with applicable laws, contracts, bylaws and administrative procedures governing state aid and relief association spending from Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2025. The audit period was extended through 2025 after auditors encountered evidence of potential misappropriation.
Auditor General Timothy DeFoor’s office identified seven findings, including $8,938 in unauthorized expenditures, $11,300 in cash withdrawals involving potential misappropriation and $7,030 in expenditures for which adequate supporting documentation was unavailable. The report also cited inadequate internal controls, deficient meeting records, problems with the association’s bylaws and a repeated failure to maintain adequate equipment records.
The Auditor General’s office provided the report to local law enforcement “to determine whether any criminal laws of the Commonwealth have been violated” and for any action authorities consider appropriate.
The most serious finding involved four cash withdrawals totaling $11,300 between Aug. 29 and Oct. 9, 2025. Auditors characterized the money as potentially misappropriated.
According to the audit, withdrawal slips contained only the signature of the treasurer who held office at the time. The transactions were not disclosed to other relief association officials or recorded in meeting minutes, the treasurer’s report or the financial journal, and the treasurer did not provide documentation supporting the withdrawals when questioned by association officials.
The association’s bylaws required at least two officers, including the treasurer, to authorize withdrawals. Association officials attributed the problem to inadequate oversight and the treasurer bypassing the dual-authorization requirement, according to the report. Auditors concluded the lack of controls meant the $11,300 “may have been misappropriated and used for non-relief association purposes.”
Auditors recommended that the association seek reimbursement of the $11,300, pursue a bond claim and consider other appropriate legal action. Association management agreed with the finding and reported that it had contacted local law enforcement.
Separately, auditors identified $8,938 in expenditures they determined were not authorized under Pennsylvania’s Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Association Act. The transactions included maintenance of the affiliated fire company’s generator, building improvements, a payment to the affiliated fire company and a duplicate equipment payment.
The association recovered $377 for the duplicate payment and $3,320 from the affiliated fire company for building improvement costs. Auditors determined $5,241 remained to be reimbursed and noted that transferring ownership of the generator to the relief association would not make the generator or its maintenance an authorized expense.
Another $7,030 involved three credit-card payments for which the association could not initially provide adequate documentation. Auditors found that without invoices or itemized receipts, they could not determine whether the expenditures were permissible under state law.
The association subsequently received a $900 reimbursement from the affiliated fire company and sought invoices covering the other two payments. Auditors continued to seek either documentation or reimbursement for the remaining $6,130.
The financial issues were accompanied by broader control deficiencies. Auditors found that bank reconciliations were not performed, the checking account carried negative balances at various points, bank and overdraft fees were not adequately monitored, some disbursements were missing from the journal and voided or missing checks were not investigated. The audit also found deficiencies in credit-card approvals, expenditure authorization and equipment tracking.
Equipment accountability had been an issue in three previous audits. For four of the five years examined, the association failed to maintain a complete and accurate cumulative equipment roster, and auditors found no evidence of annual physical inventories from 2021 through 2024. The association supplied an updated roster in January 2026 and management agreed to address the finding.
Auditors also found that $2,991 in payments to the treasurer and $500 to the recording secretary lacked documented approval in meeting minutes. The association’s bylaws contained outdated statutory language, while meeting records failed to consistently document financial transactions, attendance or whether a quorum was present. Minutes from 2021 through 2024 also lacked the recording officer’s signature.
The association received more than $490,000 in state aid through Caln Township during the five-year audit period, including $108,282 in 2025. The money comes from Pennsylvania’s foreign fire insurance tax distribution and is allocated to volunteer firefighters’ relief associations through municipalities.
Association records showed $400,804 in cash and investments at the end of 2025 and $654,993 in expenditures during the five-year period. Equipment purchases and maintenance accounted for more than $532,000 of those expenditures.
The Auditor General’s office warned that the unauthorized expenditures, potential misappropriation and undocumented spending could result in a total withholding of future state aid unless the findings are corrected. The association has 60 days to provide sufficient documentation demonstrating compliance before such action may be considered.
Management agreed with the audit findings and indicated it would take corrective action. Auditors plan to monitor compliance following the report’s release and during the association’s next audit.
No determination of criminal wrongdoing is made by the audit report.
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