Financial Information

The Oxford (Catfish) Fire Department was formed as a non-profit fire department to provide emergency services to our friends, families, and neighbors living in and passing through the fire district.

Our Department is not a government agency, which means we are not required to abide by North Carolina open records laws. However, the Board of Directors and Department management are committed to providing the public with as much information as possible about our operations. Anyone who is 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 Department management have included the 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 Forms?
Answer: An IRS Form 990 is an informational tax form that most tax-exempt organizations (nonprofits) 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 Department files with the IRS to obtain their non-profit status.

Fire Department’s Annual Budget

The following process is how the annual Department budget is approved: (1) the Fire Chief forms the annual budget (2) the Board of Directors (BOD) approve the budget (3) the budget is approved by the BOD 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 levels of approval are granted, the budget is implemented on July 1st and ends on June 30th 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 members of the BOD.

Annual Financial Audits

One of the basic duties of the Board of Directors is financial oversight, The Board ensures the funds of our Department are protected and that an annual audit done is completed. This audit is what is called an “Agreed Upon Procedure,” and after the examination is done, Department receives a report showing the findings.

The company that completes this audit is one of the largest fire department auditors in the state. They are skilled and familiar with the process and know what to look for in each audit. We hope that our commitment to financial transparency is evident to you, which is why we publish our records on this site.

We want to maintain our transparency and honesty with the public, and recommend you begin with with our audit report; we will continue to post them so the public we serve can access them whenever is convenient. We also provide a copy to the County.

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