When it comes to government, there’s plenty of problems to go around.
I get a regular report sent to me by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, which details problems uncovered at many agencies throughout the state.
The state auditor is responsible for literally thousands of audits each year, from agencies as large as parish councils and big cities to the smallest recreation district in obscure towns of Louisiana.
There are so many audits required across the state that the Louisiana auditor, Daryl Purpera, doesn’t have staff enough to do them all. So his staff does many of them, and then Purpera hires CPA and auditing firms around the state to do others.
Here in St. Tammany Parish we’ve had our own problems from time-to-time, but if you think we are the only ones with officials who knowingly or unknowingly don’t handle public money correctly, think again.
Ed Anderson, a senior report analyst for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, said that many of the problems uncovered are unintentional, since they come from small boards or districts in the state where individuals have been appointed to serve, but don’t have the expertise to make all the correct decisions when it comes to handling public money.
I thought you might get a kick out of reading only one recent report sent to me, so take a look at some of the problems in other places around our state.
James M. Singleton Charter Middle School
Officials of the James M. Singleton Charter Middle School in New Orleans failed to enroll 27 school employees in the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana between January 2009 and August 2012, and did not remit the proper amount of retirement contributions to the system.
Town of Simmesport
Officials of the Avoyelles Parish town of Simmesport may have violated the state constitution by selling a 2.49-acre tract of town land without getting a formal appraisal.
Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Corrections Services
Twelve weapons and 39 bulletproof vests assigned to personnel at the state’s probation and parole office and five prisons cannot be found.
SNAP Benefits Spent After Participants’ Deaths, Department of Children and Family Services
Approximately $1.3 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for low-income residents were improperly spent after the participants’ deaths.
Medicaid Nursing Facilities
The number of Medicaid recipients in nursing homes has decreased from 26,563 in July of 2011 to 25,335 last November, while payments to nursing homes have increased by 38 percent since June 2010.
Town of Franklinton
Former clerks employed by the Washington Parish Town of Franklinton may have taken more than $50,200 in utility and property tax receipts.
Louisiana State University and A&M College Evaluation of Scholarship Administration
The program that allows each member of the 16-member Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors to award up to 20 scholarships a year does not have specific criteria to evaluate the applicants.
Housing Authority of Lafayette
An employee of the Lafayette Housing Authority improperly placed property she owned in the Section 8 federally-subsidized housing program and received monthly payments from the authority for its use.
Town of Independence
Independence Police Chief Frank Edwards and his police officers formed a non-profit organization to perform off-duty private security work for businesses but did not repay the town for the police equipment used in those details.
Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office
The former chief financial officer of the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office appears to have given himself two unauthorized pay raises and one extra paycheck totaling $22,534 between August 2009 and November 2013.
City of Monroe
An employee of the City of Monroe allegedly misappropriated almost $2,700 in Monroe Regional Airport parking lot receipts in December 2012.
City of Winnfield
Employees of the Winn Parish City of Winnfield misused the city’s credit cards to purchase an estimated $10,000 in fuel for their personal use.
Town of Amite City
Amite City Chief of Police Jerry Trabona authorized 25 off-duty police officers to receive witness fees totaling $18,000 between April 2012 and October 2013 for appearing at arraignments, even though the officers never showed up in court.
Town of Gramercy
A former Gramercy police officer used the town’s credit card to buy about $7,500 in fuel for his personal use.
Town of Colfax
The Grant Parish Town of Colfax may have violated the state Constitution by using public money to purchase $60 gift cards for its employees.
New Orleans Regional Business Park
The 7,000-acre New Orleans Regional Business Park (NORBP) in eastern New Orleans has attracted just one business tenant in the last three years, and that company leased space in the agency’s main office building for just three months.
So I think you can see there are plenty of problems to go around. Perhaps the lesson we learn from seeing these reports—and mind you, this is just a couple of weeks’ worth—is that public money is almost waiting for someone to misuse.
That is why the case for an inspector general in St. Tammany is easily made, despite the fact it is such a costly proposition that the recent Task Force decided not to opt for that position.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.