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Luzerne County voter turnout exceeds 52 percent

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Ex-attorney Powell files new action related to billing in ‘Kids for Cash’ case

<p>A representative of Maher Duessel briefed Luzerne County Council members this week on some of the problems encountered in its 2017 fiscal audit of Children and Youth.</p><p>Delays completing the agency&#8217;s audit caused the county&#8217;s overall audit to be released at the end of September, or three months after the home rule government&#8217;s June 30 deadline, officials have said.</p><p>Lisa A. Ritter, of Maher Duessel, said a key holdup was Children and Youth&#8217;s production of Act 148 billing reports that did not reconcile back to accounting records.</p><p>&#8220;We received multiple versions, but none of the versions that we received matched the underlying records,&#8221; Ritter said, noting the agency&#8217;s fiscal staff lacked expertise and has experienced staff turnover during the four years her company has been handling its audits.</p><p>Maher Duessel had requested financial records from the county agency about a month before it started the audit in March but received nothing or incomplete items for months, Ritter said.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri said staffers were terminated and consultants were brought in to assist after the administration learned the severity of the problem. A vacant human services fiscal supervisor position also has been expanded and filled to provide more financial oversight of Children and Youth and other human service agencies, and a Children and Youth fiscal supervisor post should be filled by the end of the year, he said.</p><p>Ritter said her firm has issued an audit finding the last four years related to the agency&#8217;s struggles to &#8220;put together financial data.&#8221;</p><p>Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck asked Ritter the dollar amount of agency funds without supported records, and Ritter showed her a report indicating it was $2.5 million. McClosky Houck complained that council had not yet received some of the fiscal audit information that had been supplied to the administration last month.</p><p>Pedri asked Ritter if she has any evidence of fraud or missing money.</p><p>Ritter said she did not find missing cash.</p><p>&#8220;We did not find that somebody took money. That doesn&#8217;t mean that this discrepancy won&#8217;t result in some problem that I&#8217;m not aware of when you get supporting documents for it,&#8221; she said.</p><p>McClosky Houck questioned if the administration will be able to get to the bottom of the matter, and both Pedri and county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz said they will, even if outside consulting assistance is necessary.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a pretty big red flag if you&#8217;re missing $2.5 million and you don&#8217;t have any documentation to say what happens,&#8221; McClosky Houck said.</p><p>&#8220;I agree,&#8221; Ritter replied.</p><p>The audit financial statements also show the county&#8217;s general fund operating budget owes the Children and Youth agency $5.6 million, which was confirmed in writing by the county administration in 2015, Ritter said.</p><p>Pedri repeatedly told council he was not aware such a confirmation had been signed before he became manager, and he is not in agreement it should be paid.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the county owes that much money, but we&#8217;ve got to know one way or the next,&#8221; Pedri said. He said after the meeting the 2016 audit also said Children and Youth owed the general fund $6 million, which the agency had not paid.</p><p>McClosky Houck said it&#8217;s &#8220;hard to believe&#8221; the administration would agree the general fund owed $5.6 million without verification.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s actually problematic if someone provided a confirmation to me that was not accurate,&#8221; Ritter said.</p><p>Councilman Sheila Saidman asked if the $5.6 million has remained on the agency&#8217;s books for years, and Ritter said it has been &#8220;sitting there&#8221; since her company started auditing the agency in 2014.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">McClosky Houck </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_lindahouck.jpeg</photo0><caption0>McClosky Houck </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Children and Youth fiscal problems discussed