Seymour ambulance on shaky ground

SEYMOUR - Concerns that the Seymour Ambulance Association could be on shaky financial ground again has pitted ambulance association officials against the Board of Selectmen. Both sides stood their ground at a recent board meeting.

Susan Hunter, Editor

September 13, 2007

"The working relationship between EMSOC [Emergency Management Services Oversight Commission] and the Seymour Ambulance Association is not working out," said First Selectman Robert Koskelowski. The oversight commission was set up following the 2005 debacle that led to the resignation of former Ambulance Association Executive Director Frank Marcucio and his wife, June Marcucio, the association's paid business manager. They resigned shortly after revelations of alleged financial mismanagement rocked the ambulance corps. Investigation revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt and thousands of dollars in undocumented and questionable credit card charges. In an Aug. 29 letter to Koskelowski, oversight commission members complained about a lack of financial information, animosity toward the commission from ambulance association leaders and an inability to provide information in a timely manner. Oversight commission officials claimed that the numbers from a recently released 2005-06 audit don't jive with IRS accounting forms and the corps' monthly financial report. "It's been over two years," said Selectman John Conroy, referring to the monumental efforts to clean up the original financial mess. "I'm a bit disappointed it's at this level." Conroy chaired the EMS Study Committee charged in 2005 with setting a sound future course for the ambulance corps. "I don't see anybody striving to get their financial house in order," said oversight commission Chairman Irene Jecusco. "The monthly financials don't make sense." The corps carried "the bad numbers" of the Marcucio corps, she said, and the present corps didn't follow her advice of starting with a "0" balance. The corps didn't respond to oversight commission members' queries over the past months, she said. "When we had questions, we didn't get answers," she said. "The records were built on a bad foundation," agreed the association's auditor, John Rolleri. "They were building on bad data." Rolleri defended the corps' work to untangle the financial morass it faced following the Marcucio tenure. "What I saw was absolute garbage in accounting records," he said, and the corps worked proactively to straighten things out. "They wanted to do a great job," he said. "I really think the biggest problem was that there wasn't an outside CPA to help them along. They don't have the expertise, but they have a passion." Koskelowski wasn't swayed by the explanation. "I really believe the Seymour Ambulance Association doesn't know what direction to take financially," he said. "I'm very disappointed in the financial progress they've made in the last two years. Over the last 19 months, it seems very, very obvious they don't want to work with us. If we don't see an improvement in two or three months, something needs to change." Poor communication The ambulance corps didn't provide town officials with copies of the recent audit or the management letter that accompanied it, Koskelowski said. He had to request of copy of the letter under Freedom of Information statutes, and the corps asked him to pay $26.50 for a copy of the IRS 990 form. "I was insulted," he said. "That was very alarming. "The town gives the corps an annual $27,500 payment and a $50,000 dispatch fee that covers ambulance and fire department costs. The town and the state also helped to fund renovations to the ambulance corps headquarters, and town officials received no invitation to tour the new building. Koskelowski said he was concerned about the corps' use of debit cards and billing issues as reported in the audit management letter. The problems weren't reported to the oversight commission, he said, and the corps' management didn't take financial advice offered by the town's financial officials. "They refused our professional help," Koskelowski said. But ambulance association director Scott Andrews defended the corps. "We've done a great job," Andrews said. "We paid down $300,000 in debt and did a good job seeing our bills were paid. "Every month we would send reports to EMSOC," he said, regarding expenditures and income. "When we looked at the balance sheets, there was no good foundation. I'm not a financial person, but I know how to run an ambulance corps." Andrews said he did take financial advice from auditors and sometimes took advice from the town. "When the audit comes out, look at it objectively," he urged the selectmen, referring to the 2006-07 audit due this week. "There's still a ways to go, but we will get there." But Jecusco still had concerns about bookkeeping practices that the management letter criticized. "We talked 19 months ago and said an ambulance association office had to be administrated by an accountant," she said. "If you don't have controls, it will get out of hand." Melanie Kalako, who chairs the ambulance corps' board of directors bristled at accusations that she signs checks without seeing back-up information "There's not one check that I signed that does not have back-up," she said. "I will not sign a check if there is no backup information." Officials agreed that the quality of ambulance service has remained good, and oversight commission member Rosalie Averill saw the airing of concerns in a positive light. "Hopefully only good can come of this," she said.

©The Valley Gazette 2007