Financial Information

This fire department was formed as a non-profit fire department that contracts with Gaston County to provide emergency services to the citizens located within and passing through the fire district. This fire department is not a government agency, which means we are not required to abide by North Carolina open records laws. Despite that fact, the Board of Directors and fire department management find it necessary to provide the public with as much information as possible so that anyone interested in the financial and operational functions of their fire department can view this information with ease.

In order to make such information readily available to the public, the Board of Directors and fire department management have included their IRS Form 990s for the last (3) three years along with their IRS 1023 Form on this website page for review.

(Question) What are IRS 990’s?
(Answer) An IRS Form 990 is an informational tax form that most tax-exempt organizations must file annually. In a nutshell, the form gives the IRS an overview of the organization’s activities, governance, and detailed financial information.

(Question) What is the IRS 1023 Form?
(Answer) The IRS Form 1023 is the document the fire department files with the IRS to obtain their non-profit status.

Fire Department’s Annual Budget

The following process is how the annual fire department budget is approved: (1) the Fire Chief forms the annual budget (2) the Board of Directors approve the budget (3) the board approved budget is then submitted to the County for review and approval. The County Commissioners approve the annual budget and tax rate related to the annual budget. After all the approvals, the budget is implemented on July 1st and ends on June 31st of each year.

If you have questions related to the annual budget, please do not hesitate to contact the Fire Chief or one of the board members.

Annual Financial Audits

One of the Board of Director’s duties is financial oversight, and to make sure that the funds of our fire department are protected, we have an annual audit done. This audit is what is called an “Agreed Upon Procedure,” and after the examination is done, they send the fire department a report showing their findings.

The company that completes this audit is one of the largest fire department auditors in the state, so they know what they are looking for. As you see by the information on this website, we are one of the most transparent fire departments out there, and we work hard every day to become more and more transparent.

Start with our 2019 audit report; we are going to start posting them here for you, the public to review. Along with you, we also provide the County of Lincoln a copy of the report for them to review.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call the Fire Chief, as he loves hearing from the public.

(704) 827-8861