Audit, Fredonia at odds over expenditure of EMS funds

An audit of municipalities that received about $3 million in federal funds to hire paramedics all met the conditions of the grant agreement except the Village of Fredonia, which has yet to spend or commit all of its allotment, an audit of the grant program has concluded.

Last September, the Ozaukee County Board approved a plan to distribute $3.02 million to county fire departments, with half the money being granted last October and the other half after April 1.

According to the audit, the Southern Ozaukee, Cedarburg, Grafton, Saukville and Port Washington fire departments all met the conditions of the audit and will be eligible to receive their second payment.

The Fredonia Fire Department, however, “will have $9,432 of the capital outlay grant under the program and $100,732 of funds remaining for the recruitment and retention of EMS personnel,” concluded the audit, which was presented Tuesday to the county Public Safety Committee by County Administrator Jason Dzwinel.

“The (second) payment can be reduced if the (hiring) request is not met,” Dzwinel said.

Fredonia Fire Chief Brian Weyker said he thought the auditor’s conclusion was in error, saying his department has hired three full-time and two part-time paramedics.

“All I know is we’re spending $1,000 a day,” he said.

He said representatives of the four communities — the villages and town of Fredonia and Belgium — that are consolidating their fire service have not met for three months but will in March.

“By then we should have some real numbers,” he said.

In September, county supervisors allocated $648,000 to the Southern Ozaukee, Grafton and Fredonia fire departments,  $216,000 to the Saukville Fire Department

and $432,000 to the Cedarburg and Port Washington fire departments each.

On Tuesday the Public Safety Committee took no action.

The matter will be reviewed in March by the Executivive Committee, which Dzwinel said can do one of three things:

• Do nothing and provide additional grant funding beyond the audited future expenditure estimates.

• Redistribute the funding to other grant participants.

• Reduce the funding amount to the Village of Fredonia and reallocate the funds.

County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, urged any misunderstanding be straightened out before the Executive Committee meeting.

“Can this be remedied? We need to fix this,” he said.

Dzwinel and Weyker said they thought it could be.