From Tampa Bay Online: An internal audit of Tampa's fire marshal's office has found inspections are not done in a timely manner and that outstanding debts are not being promptly collected.

City auditors reviewed 60 randomly selected inspections — fire code compliance, alarm and sprinkler systems — and found at least 16 were not completed in a frequency set by the marshal's own policies, which range from 1 to 5 years depending on the business.

Likewise, the audit reviewed invoices from 60 inspections —conducted between 2008 and 2010 — and found 17 hadn't been collected 30 days after the bill was submitted.

A review of all outstanding bills for inspections found 1,174 accounts, totaling $93,567, were more than 60 days overdue. In some cases, invoices hadn't yet been generated for 1,044 fire inspections that had already been completed, totaling nearly $78,000 in fees.