Daytona Beach audit: Fire chief claims $50K in charges are from other city department as well
Audit findings spark heated debate in Daytona Beach
A contentious city commission meeting stretched for hours Tuesday night as officials debated findings from a recent audit of the city’s fire department that raised concerns about spending and oversight.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A contentious city commission meeting stretched for hours as officials debated findings from a recent audit of the city’s fire department that raised concerns about spending and oversight. The spending occurred using city-issued P Cards – totaling to over $50,000 in charges from the Daytona Beach Fire Department in the span of five years.
The audit identified what it described as improper use of city credit cards, along with undocumented use of take-home city vehicles and more than $500,000 in vehicle maintenance costs that lacked proper tracking of expenses or mileage.
What we know:
In an April 1 meeting, tensions flared as commissioners disagreed over the validity of the report, with one official questioning whether it should be presented at all, citing possible inconsistencies and calling for a third-party review. Others pushed back, saying concerns about inaccuracies should be backed by evidence.
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Fire department: False charges
The audit also highlighted purchases that raised eyebrows, including spending on televisions, baby shower supplies and shoes, as well as more than $50,000 spent on fast food and restaurants over a five-year period.
Fire department representatives defended some of the expenditures, saying certain food purchases were tied to approved budget line items and documented for specific events. Officials said they plan to provide additional documentation to clarify how funds were used.
The fire department claimed the food purchases found in the audit contained purchases from other departments in this city.
"The food purchases alone that you received yesterday... only total $26k," Deputy City Manager/Fire Chief Dru Driscoll said April 1. "They contain purchases from other departments in this city. They contain purchases made for this city commission, whether it’s hot dogs on grandparents’ day and all these other things... they still showed up as a false allegation on the fire department audit."
Driscoll disputed allegations regarding fire department spending, arguing that many charges on the department's P-card were actually city-wide expenses or commission events.
The auditor, Abinet Belachew, maintained that the data was pulled directly from the Fire Department’s specific P-card report.
"I requested the firefighter department P-card report and that was provided. So, whether it is charges for the commissioner or for anybody, this is used as a P-card of the firefighter department," Belachew said.
Taking city vehicles home
The discussion grew particularly heated over the use of city vehicles, including questions about employees taking vehicles home and whether some were improperly registered, which critics argued could amount to misuse of taxpayer dollars.
"Our operational firefighters do not use city funds to purchase daily food, clothing, or anything else that has been applied. The firefighters that you see every day responding to emergencies call on firetrucks do not have the ability to make department purchases," the fire chief said.
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A decades-old policy
The backstory:
City leaders said the purpose of the presentation was to inform commissioners of the audit’s findings, while acknowledging that further review may be needed.
Daytona Beach previously looked into "excessive spending" using city issued Purchase Cards, or P-cards. The audit also found under-documented spending on expensive meals, business class tickets, valet and more.
Read more: Audit exposes ‘excessive’ spending: Daytona Beach to update decades-old travel expenditure policy
"This has been going on now for a year," Commissioner Quanita May said. "We brought in an auditor who showed us all of these things. We do have a policy from 2006. So many of these things have not been followed."
Motion to terminate city manager
Discussion centered in part on a 2006 policy that has allegedly not been followed and the need for formal evaluations before a vote on termination is finalized.
On April 1, a motion was brought forward to provide a 30-day notice for the termination of City Manager Deric Feacher. The motion failed with a 2-5 vote.
"All things that go wrong ultimately end with our city manager," May said.
What's next:
A separate state-level audit is expected to be completed later this year.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared during a meeting of the Daytona Beach City Commission on April 1, 2026 and reporting by FOX 35's Chancelor Winn.