Schools can’t find $43K in parking fees

Retired employee who handled cash offers auditors no explanation

About $43,000 in Broward County school district parking fees has disappeared, an audit found, prompting a criminal investigation.

The money was removed from parking meters outside district offices in Fort Lauderdale from Nov. 4, 2014, until Sept. 1, 2015, when the district started accepting credit cards only. But the cash that had been collected was never deposited into district bank accounts, the audit found.

“There were no controls over parking operations,” Chief Auditor Pat Reilly said Thursday. “We had one person who was assigned to receive the cash, count the cash, reconcile the cash, deposit the cash and monitor all transactions.”

That employee, district

A security specialist told auditors he had escorted Ray to deposit money at the Bright Star Credit Union. But the district didn’t have an account there, the audit found.

operations specialist Bette Ray, retired in May 2016 — before officials became aware of any irregularities. Ray “stated she had no explanation regarding the missing funds,” auditors wrote.

Ray did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

The case has been turned over to the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, which is investigating, Reilly said.

District officials noticed the discrepancies this year as they prepared to renew a parking contract with the city of Fort Lauderdale and reviewed their revenues.

Under the contract, which began in November 2014, visitors pay $3 an hour to park in the lot at the K.C. Wright Administration Building. The district keeps that money, while the city collects revenues from citations given to those who park without paying.

During the first 10 months of the agreement, the parking machines allowed cash or credit card payments. Starting Sept. 1, 2015, the machines quit accepting cash.

Records from the parking vendor showed about $56,794 in cash had been removed from the machines during the 10-month period in question, but only $13,690 had been deposited, a discrepancy of $43,104.

A district security specialist told auditors he had escorted Ray several times to deposit money to the Bright Star Credit Union in the K.C. Wright building. But the district didn’t have an account with the credit union, the audit found.

“Upon request for all parking lot-related documentation from district staff, we were told that all documentation was missing, such as deposit slips, bank records, revenue reports and pay station cash removal receipts,” the audit states.

One mystery noted in the report is why the district stopped accepting cash in September 2015, eight months before Ray retired.

Ray sent an email to the vendor asking for this change. She told auditors that former Police Chief Anthony Williams had asked that “his staff not be used to remove cash from the pay stations,” the audit states.

But Williams denied making that statement, the audit said.

“In fact, he stated that he was not aware that his staff was even included in the cash collecting from the pay stations,” auditors wrote. “He emphasized that he never made any statements regarding parking lot cash collections or operations related to parking lot revenues.”

The district continues to accept only credit card payments for parking. They are now implementing recommendations by the auditors to reconcile parking reports monthly, and not allow one person so much control in handling money when cash is received.