Financial Management
The Fire Financial Team helps ensure that public funds entrusted to Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue are managed responsibly, accurately, and transparently. The team provides comprehensive financial, budgetary, payroll, purchasing, billing, and administrative support that allows the department to maintain emergency services while making responsible use of taxpayer dollars and fee-supported resources.
Financial Management supports every area of Fire-Rescue, including emergency operations, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Prevention, Ocean Rescue, logistics, administration, and departmental support services. The team’s work helps ensure that funding is available for personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and programs that directly support the community.
Supporting the Fire Rescue Mission
The Fire Financial Team provides the financial foundation that allows Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue to serve the community effectively and responsibly.
The team protects public resources through sound fiscal management, accurate billing and revenue collection, responsible purchasing, reliable payroll administration, and strong internal controls. Andrew Thompson provides the financial analysis and strategic fiscal guidance that helps department leadership determine how available resources can best support emergency services and community needs.
Responsible financial management helps Fire-Rescue maintain staffing, replace equipment, support emergency operations, plan for future service demands, and pursue outside revenues while remaining accountable for the public funds entrusted to the department.
Every financial decision ultimately supports the same goal: maintaining high-quality Fire-Rescue services while making responsible use of the community’s resources
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Leadership
Andrew Thompson, CGFO, in his role as Public Safety Administrator, leads the Fire Financial Team and brings more than 15 years of local government finance and administration experience to Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue. His professional experience includes municipal budgeting, financial planning and reporting, treasury management, purchasing, capital financing, public safety funding, and organizational administration. Prior to joining Fort Lauderdale, Thompson previously served the neighboring City of Oakland Park in a variety of roles, including Budget & Management Analyst, Finance Director, and Chief Financial Officer.
Thompson graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a B.A. in Political Science. He holds a Master of Science in Planning and a Master of Public Administration from Florida State University. He is a Certified Government Finance Officer and a Certified Public Pension Trustee.
Budget & Fiscal Strategy
Financial Management develops, prepares, administers, and monitors the Fire-Rescue Department’s annual operating budget. The team works with department leadership to forecast expenditures, evaluate financial needs, develop funding strategies, and align available resources with operational priorities.
Staff monitors expenditures throughout the fiscal year and tracks individual fund and index code balances. Careful monitoring helps ensure that public funds remain available for emergency response, staffing, equipment, contractual services, training, and other essential needs.
Andrew Thompson provides the financial analysis used to evaluate expenditure trends, available funding, emerging fiscal pressures, and the department’s ability to support current services and future initiatives. His analysis helps leadership balance operational needs with the responsible use of public resources.
Purchasing & Accounts Payable
Financial Management coordinates the department’s purchasing and payment processes. Staff prepares and manages purchase orders, processes vendor invoices, issues payments, monitors expenditures, and ensures costs are charged to the appropriate funding sources.
Accurate purchasing and payment controls help protect public funds by ensuring that expenditures are properly authorized, documented, and paid from the correct accounts. Strong financial controls also help Fire-Rescue obtain the equipment, supplies, and services employees need to serve the community.
Revenue, Billing & Reimbursements
Revenue administration represents the majority of the team’s day-to-day financial responsibilities and includes billing, revenue collection, reimbursement processing, account monitoring, and reconciliation.
Financial Management oversees Fire Prevention billing and revenue collection, including revenues generated through inspections, plans review, permits, and other Fire Prevention services. Accurate billing helps ensure that fees are properly assessed, collected, recorded, and applied to the services they support.
The team also administers Emergency Medical Services reimbursement programs, including Public Emergency Medical Transportation (PEMT) reimbursements and other ambulance-related revenues. These reimbursement programs recover eligible funding from outside sources and help offset the local cost of providing emergency medical services.
Staff monitors revenue collections, reconciles accounts, tracks outstanding balances, and helps ensure departmental revenues are accurately recorded and credited to the appropriate accounts. Strong revenue management helps reduce the amount of service costs that must be supported through other City revenues.
Payroll & Workforce Systems
Financial Management oversees departmental timekeeping and payroll administration and supports the systems used to manage Fire-Rescue’s complex 24-hour workforce. The team supports the scheduling system, maintains payroll records, and monitors staffing, overtime, leave usage, and related workforce data. The deployment of the new version supports the Operations staff in creating the daily line-up of who sits in each vehicle on one of three shifts based on the Operations duty roster created by the Assistant Chief each morning and distributed as the "line-up" (at left Chief Denman creates the board for C-shift).
Accurate staffing and payroll information helps ensure employees are paid correctly while giving department leadership a clear picture of personnel costs and staffing demands. Reliable workforce information is especially important in a public-safety department where adequate staffing must be maintained around the clock.
Financial Management collaborates with the Senior Management Analyst in the department’s Analytics and Innovation area to analyze staffing, overtime, leave, payroll, and other workforce data used for operational and executive decision-making. The analyst's analyses help leadership identify staffing pressures, evaluate overtime costs, anticipate personnel needs, and use staffing resources more efficiently.
Financial Reporting & Internal Controls
Financial Management prepares financial reports, reconciliations, expenditure reports, revenue reports, and other financial information used by Fire-Rescue leadership.
Andrew Thompson analyzes the department’s financial position and provides leadership with insight into spending patterns, available resources, budget performance, emerging fiscal issues, and long-range financial needs. His analysis helps leadership understand the financial impact of operational decisions before committing public resources.
The team maintains internal controls that safeguard public funds, promote accurate financial reporting, and ensure transactions are properly authorized, documented, and recorded. Strong internal controls support accountability and help maintain public confidence in the department’s stewardship of City resources.
Records & Administrative Management
Financial Management maintains financial, payroll, employee, purchasing, billing, and other administrative records in accordance with City policies and applicable records requirements.
Accurate records provide the foundation for financial accountability, audits, public reporting, operational planning, and management oversight. The team also supports the integrity and accuracy of information shared among departmental and enterprise systems used for financial management, staffing, payroll, workforce administration, and management reporting.
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