§ 181-b. Independent audit of fire districts. 1. The commissioner of
each fire district with revenues of four hundred thousand dollars or
more shall obtain an annual audit of its records by an independent
certified public accountant or an independent public accountant. The
report of such annual audit shall be presented to the fire district
board of fire commissioners by such accountant. Such fire district audit
shall include, but not be limited to, the district's financial
conditions and resources and such other things as the state comptroller
may designate. A copy of the audit report in form prescribed by the
state comptroller and certified by the accountant, shall be furnished to
the commissioners, the town boards served by the district and the state
comptroller within one hundred eighty days following the end of the
fiscal year audited.

2. The commissioner of each fire district with revenues of less than
four hundred thousand dollars shall report the district's financial
conditions and resources and such other things as the state comptroller
may designate on a form prescribed by him or her. A copy of such report
shall be issued to the state comptroller within one hundred eighty days
following the end of the fiscal year. The state comptroller may
designate an amount below which no report shall be required.

3. On or after January first, two thousand seven, all fire districts
subject to the provisions of subdivision one of this section shall
utilize a competitive request for proposal process when contracting for
such annual audit. In addition, no audit engagement shall be for a term
longer than five consecutive years; provided, however, that nothing in
this subdivision shall preclude a district, in its discretion, from
permitting an independent certified public accountant or an independent
public accountant engaged under an existing contract for such services
to (i) submit a proposal for such services in response to a request for
competitive proposals, or (ii) be awarded a contract to provide such
services under a request for proposal process.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph one of paragraph (b)
of subdivision four of section thirty-five of the general municipal law,
each fire district shall (i) prepare a corrective action plan in
response to any findings contained in the annual external audit report
or management letter, or any final audit report issued by the state
comptroller, within ninety days of receipt of such report or letter, and
(ii) to the extent practicable, begin implementation of such corrective
action plan no later than the end of the next fiscal year.