Crime & Safety

Wentzville Fire District Faces Financial Crisis

An audit of the Fire District stated that the district's spending has outpaced its revenue since 2010.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last week that an audit of the Wentzville Fire Protection District has revealed that the Fire District is facing severe financial problems.

The Post obtained the audit through a Sunshine request. Among other recommendations, the audit said that all capital spending should cease and that policies concerning use of credit cards should be reviewed. Problems were also noted with the accounting of voided and missing checks.

The audit also revealed that the district's expenditures have been outpacing its revenues since 2010 and that it could be out of money by the end of 2014.

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In August, Fire Chief Randy Bornhop resigned, and the fire board fired Assistant Chief Robb Watkins. Fire Marshall Joseph Heitkamp was placed on unpaid indefinite leave and Fire Inspector Chris Newbold was laid off.  

The combined salaries of the four officials topped $375,000. Only the position of Fire Chief has been advertised as open for applications.

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