§ 178-a. Expenses incurred in attending town and county officers training school. The actual and necessary expenses incurred by a fire district officer or person duly elected as a fire district officer, in attending a course of training for his respective office as provided by the town and county officers training school of the state of New York for the purpose of improving the administration of municipal affairs in the town and counties of the state, shall be a charge against the fire district of which he is an officer or officer-elect. No person, however, shall be allowed such expenses for attending a regional school unless his district shall be included within the area of such region as established by the board of trustees of the town and county officers training school of the state of New York. The board of fire commissioners, in lieu of auditing and allowing the claim of a fire district officer or officer-elect for actual and necessary expenses for travel in attending any such course of training, may determine by resolution to allow and pay such officer or officer-elect a reasonable mileage allowance for the use of his own automobile for each mile actually and necessarily traveled by him in attending such course of training.