Municipalities need to get a better grip on financial checks and balances

We have a problem here in the Nutmeg State with checks and balances. Too many people employed by municipalities are stealing and it is taking months for their thefts to be discovered.

The recent arrest of a former New Haven employee and the subsequent explanation from City Hall raises questions about the stewardship of taxpayers’ dollars.

The former employee in question allegedly made “35 unauthorized transactions with a city credit card from May 16 through Aug. 21 for $13,294.43.”

Twenty-four of those transactions were allegedly for a room at the Village Suites on Long Wharf Drive. Other alleged transactions were for travel booking sites and the arrest warrant also included some suspected unauthorized food purchases.

The 41-year-old former employee is charged with second-degree larceny, illegal use of a credit card and first-degree identity theft. She has pleaded not guilty.

The city promptly held a news conference assuring the public the unapproved charges were caught in a timely manner and swift action was taken by firing the employee.

But that was before compliance by the city with a Freedom of Information Act requested by the Register revealed that two years worth of credit card charges showed that “thousands of dollars connected to trips made by Mayor Toni Harp, Controller Daryl Jones and other employees, in the course of their duties, were not included in monthly reports to the Board of Alders, as required.”

The explanation from City Hall quickly shifted, now assuring city residents that the larceny by the former employee is actually a “silver lining” because it has allowed the city to “review its credit card practices” and “inconsistent bookkeeping and reporting practices.”

But we don’t see a “silver lining,” just another example of misuse of taxpayer dollars that took months to come to light.

Lawrence Grotheer, spokesman for the mayor, said not all departments understood they were supposed to submit the expenses because they had been budgeted and approved by a supervisor.

Huh?

Is the city spokesman trying to convince taxpayers that people who are allegedly smart enough to travel and conduct business on behalf of the city are too dumb to understand that expenses must be accounted for because it is not their money? Isn’t turning in receipts for an expense report when conducting business for the city part of training 101?

Employees betraying the public’s trust by stealing or allegedly stealing money or items from towns and cities they are employed by is not only a problem here but across Connecticut from Torrington to Middletown to Hartford to Enfield to Wilton.

The jury is still out on the former employee accused of misusing a credit card but the New Haven is already guilty of lack of proper oversight.

It is clear municipalities need a better grip on financial checks and balances.