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Audit: Pulaski group paid twice
COUNTY OVERSPENT ROADS BUDGET BY $169,672
By Bill Estep
BESTEP@HERALD-LEADER.COM
SOMERSET --A group working to preserve a Civil War battlefield in Pulaski County was reimbursed twice with federal money -- a total of more than $400,000 -- for the same project, a state audit has found.
State Auditor Crit Luallen's office referred that information to the FBI for possible investigation.
Audits covering two years also found that during fiscal year 2005-06 -- a year the incumbent judge-executive and some magistrates were up for re-election -- Pulaski County overspent its budget doing road projects by more than $160,000.
The audits also questioned nearly $10,000 in credit-card charges by the director of the local economic-development office. Luallen's office recommended that the county attorney look into whether the development director should have to pay back any money to the county.
The information was contained in the county's fiscal 2005 and 2006 audits, covering July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2006. Luallen's office released both Friday.
Some bookkeeping and financial problems were repeated from one year to the next, auditors noted.
"It's always a serious concern when we have problems of managing public funds that continue year to year," Luallen said.
The 2005-06 audit found that when the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, the county had overspent the available road-fund balance by more than $200,000. Later transfers of money owed to the account reduced the deficit to $169,672, the audit found.
2006 was an election year. Barty Bullock defeated then-Judge-Executive Darrell BeShears in the Republican primary in May; the problems noted in the two audits occurred before Bullock took office.
The audit found a number of other shortcomings in the two fiscal years. They included that the county bought vehicles without following proper bidding rules; took longer to pay bills than allowed; let some key employees get their checks early; and had negative balances in several checking accounts in the 2005-06 year.
Bullock told the Herald-Leader that his administration has corrected the problems noted in the audits.
BeShears was not available for comment Friday.
Missing receipts
Luallen's office is responsible for seeing that each county's books are audited annually, either with state auditors or outside accountants.
It took longer than usual to release the Pulaski County audits. The county requested a delay in starting the 2005 audit to install a new computer system, and later, auditors found spending issues that took longer than anticipated to sort through, Luallen said.
There were a number of findings in the audit both years related to the Somerset-Pulaski Development Foundation and its executive director, Carrol Estes. The foundation works to recruit and retain jobs.
Estes had a county credit card to cover expenses such as travel, entertainment and vehicle maintenance.
Auditors questioned nearly $10,000 in charges because there were no receipts to document that the spending was for business, or because receipts didn't show the purpose of the purchases. There were more than 200 missing or inadequate receipts during the two years, the audit found.
Estes told the Herald-Leader he failed to get some receipts, but that all the spending was proper and business-related.
"I never used the card for anything personal," he said
Bullock told auditors that Estes no longer has a county credit card.
The audit also found that the development foundation or the county paid for services from people related to Estes or foundation board members.
In the two-year period, the foundation or the county paid Estes' mother-in-law $3,800 for cleaning services. The audits also noted payments of $2,968 to Estes' son; nearly $5,000 for services from companies owned or controlled by board members; and $8,700 for computer services from the son of a board member.
Estes said the son of former Somerset Mayor J.P. Wiles provided computer equipment and services to the foundation when Wiles was on the board. The foundation sought proposals on the work and Wiles' son made lowest offer, Estes said.
The payments to companies owned by board members were legitimate, Estes said.
As to the payments to his son, Estes said his son oversaw work by inmates to move furniture and equipment to a new foundation office, saving the county thousands of dollars. His mother-in-law was cleaning the foundation office before he became director, Estes said, and he saw no reason to replace her.
Paid twice
The 2006 audit also said the fiscal court didn't properly oversee a federal transportation grant of more than $200,000 to the Mill Springs Battlefield Association. The county served as the pass-through agency for the federal aid.
The association works to preserve and interpret the site of the January 1862 Battle of Mill Springs -- also known as the Battle of Logan's Crossroads -- in Pulaski and Wayne counties, a significant Union victory early in the war. The association built a visitor center and museum.
The problem, according to the audit, is that before the battlefield association was reimbursed $213,625 for the project through federal transportation funding, it had already been reimbursed from federal housing money.
Norrie Wake, a former Fayette County attorney who is the administrator for the battlefield association, said all the federal money went into building the visitor center and museum.
"Every dime that was spent was spent properly as far as I know," he said.
The state audit said the county fiscal court didn't require the association to get an audit soon enough. Bullock said that in the future the county would make agencies hire a third party to administer grants passed through the fiscal court.
Drew A. Gruber
COUNTY OVERSPENT ROADS BUDGET BY $169,672
By Bill Estep
BESTEP@HERALD-LEADER.COM
SOMERSET --A group working to preserve a Civil War battlefield in Pulaski County was reimbursed twice with federal money -- a total of more than $400,000 -- for the same project, a state audit has found.
State Auditor Crit Luallen's office referred that information to the FBI for possible investigation.
Audits covering two years also found that during fiscal year 2005-06 -- a year the incumbent judge-executive and some magistrates were up for re-election -- Pulaski County overspent its budget doing road projects by more than $160,000.
The audits also questioned nearly $10,000 in credit-card charges by the director of the local economic-development office. Luallen's office recommended that the county attorney look into whether the development director should have to pay back any money to the county.
The information was contained in the county's fiscal 2005 and 2006 audits, covering July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2006. Luallen's office released both Friday.
Some bookkeeping and financial problems were repeated from one year to the next, auditors noted.
"It's always a serious concern when we have problems of managing public funds that continue year to year," Luallen said.
The 2005-06 audit found that when the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, the county had overspent the available road-fund balance by more than $200,000. Later transfers of money owed to the account reduced the deficit to $169,672, the audit found.
2006 was an election year. Barty Bullock defeated then-Judge-Executive Darrell BeShears in the Republican primary in May; the problems noted in the two audits occurred before Bullock took office.
The audit found a number of other shortcomings in the two fiscal years. They included that the county bought vehicles without following proper bidding rules; took longer to pay bills than allowed; let some key employees get their checks early; and had negative balances in several checking accounts in the 2005-06 year.
Bullock told the Herald-Leader that his administration has corrected the problems noted in the audits.
BeShears was not available for comment Friday.
Missing receipts
Luallen's office is responsible for seeing that each county's books are audited annually, either with state auditors or outside accountants.
It took longer than usual to release the Pulaski County audits. The county requested a delay in starting the 2005 audit to install a new computer system, and later, auditors found spending issues that took longer than anticipated to sort through, Luallen said.
There were a number of findings in the audit both years related to the Somerset-Pulaski Development Foundation and its executive director, Carrol Estes. The foundation works to recruit and retain jobs.
Estes had a county credit card to cover expenses such as travel, entertainment and vehicle maintenance.
Auditors questioned nearly $10,000 in charges because there were no receipts to document that the spending was for business, or because receipts didn't show the purpose of the purchases. There were more than 200 missing or inadequate receipts during the two years, the audit found.
Estes told the Herald-Leader he failed to get some receipts, but that all the spending was proper and business-related.
"I never used the card for anything personal," he said
Bullock told auditors that Estes no longer has a county credit card.
The audit also found that the development foundation or the county paid for services from people related to Estes or foundation board members.
In the two-year period, the foundation or the county paid Estes' mother-in-law $3,800 for cleaning services. The audits also noted payments of $2,968 to Estes' son; nearly $5,000 for services from companies owned or controlled by board members; and $8,700 for computer services from the son of a board member.
Estes said the son of former Somerset Mayor J.P. Wiles provided computer equipment and services to the foundation when Wiles was on the board. The foundation sought proposals on the work and Wiles' son made lowest offer, Estes said.
The payments to companies owned by board members were legitimate, Estes said.
As to the payments to his son, Estes said his son oversaw work by inmates to move furniture and equipment to a new foundation office, saving the county thousands of dollars. His mother-in-law was cleaning the foundation office before he became director, Estes said, and he saw no reason to replace her.
Paid twice
The 2006 audit also said the fiscal court didn't properly oversee a federal transportation grant of more than $200,000 to the Mill Springs Battlefield Association. The county served as the pass-through agency for the federal aid.
The association works to preserve and interpret the site of the January 1862 Battle of Mill Springs -- also known as the Battle of Logan's Crossroads -- in Pulaski and Wayne counties, a significant Union victory early in the war. The association built a visitor center and museum.
The problem, according to the audit, is that before the battlefield association was reimbursed $213,625 for the project through federal transportation funding, it had already been reimbursed from federal housing money.
Norrie Wake, a former Fayette County attorney who is the administrator for the battlefield association, said all the federal money went into building the visitor center and museum.
"Every dime that was spent was spent properly as far as I know," he said.
The state audit said the county fiscal court didn't require the association to get an audit soon enough. Bullock said that in the future the county would make agencies hire a third party to administer grants passed through the fiscal court.
Drew A. Gruber