Charleston - Huntington, West Virginia -- WOWK -- 13News13News Investigation: Chesapeake Volunteer Fire Department under audit

The Chesapeake Volunteer Fire Department is under a microscope.

County leaders want to know how taxpayer money is being spent and have issued an ultimatum: Open your books or don't expect another dime.

The controversy surrounds table games run by the fire department: Bingo and raffle tickets sold nearing half a million dollars in just two years.

"Operating a for profit business in and around a fire department seems inappropriate to me," said Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy.

Hardy called for an audit into the fire department months ago to see where county cash was being spent.

"Their books are just very murky and undefined at this point," said Hardy.

Tax information obtained by 13News offers a glimpse into a massive table game operation run by volunteer fire fighters.

Between April and July 2011, for example, the Chesapeake Volunteer Fire Department reported taking in $167,477 from bingo games and reported giving away $184,647 worth of cash prizes. That adds up to a loss of $20,558. They offset the cost with raffle tickets, explained state tax officials. 

Whatever the fire department earns is then put into their general fund to be spent on needs for the fire department. It's a common practice among volunteer fire departments across the county.

Chief P.J. Johnson told 13News in an earlier interview that the department makes approximately 90 percent of their revenue from this operation.

County officials recently obtained the same tax information and said it raises more questions than it answered.

"Their books, on their face, just don't seem to look right," said Hardy.

Hardy wants to know why the department needs contracted labor, an expense that costs the department thousands of dollars each year. The department hires private security for each bingo game, held twice a week. Each "contracted labor" expense ranges between $150 and $200.

The county this week sent a letter to the fire department to open their books to show how taxpayer money is spent.

Requests for comment from members of the fire department were deferred to Chief Johnson. Messages to his home and office were unreturned.