STATE COLLEGE — When residents learned that a Centre County township is investigating the potential misuse of more than $532,000 by a suspended employee, many asked: How could such a large sum of public money disappear without scrutiny?
Officials in Gregg Township have provided few details but did say an employee might have used a credit card for the transactions in question. They’ve promised a full public report once an investigation by Pennsylvania State Police is complete.
The employee, who Spotlight PA is not naming because they haven’t been charged with a crime, has been suspended without pay.
The rural township, which has about 2,200 residents and last reported an annual budget of about $714,000, is overseen by a three-member Board of Supervisors. It’s their job to authorize spending and make sure public funds are disbursed accordingly.
Supervisor Ben Haupt declined to answer on the record when Spotlight PA asked if the township had any policies about financial responsibilities in place during the employee’s tenure. He would say only that officials started working on such policies after they suspended the employee.
Haupt also declined to comment on details of the policies but said the board will discuss them in the next public meeting on Sept. 12.
Because local governments fund public services by collecting and spending tax dollars, they have a responsibility to safeguard the use of that money. Generally, having clear financial policies that put best practices in place creates mechanisms to root out fraud, waste, and abuse.
Local governments make payments using a variety of options: cash, check, and electronic methods, according to the national Government Finance Officers Association.
Cash payments are typically discouraged by finance professionals because they are harder to verify and reconcile. While some controls — like requiring multiple signatures — exist for checks, governments should use electronic transactions because they allow less paperwork and easier monitoring, the association advises.
It also encourages municipalities to put in place procedures and internal controls for each payment method.
While local governments can independently decide whether to use credit cards, having policies that spell out how they can or cannot be used is crucial for fiscal accountability.
Municipalities that use credit cards should issue ordinances or resolutions that establish policies for their use, said Scott Coburn, education director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, in an email to Spotlight PA.
Those policies should specify “which categories of township staff and officials are permitted to use them, for what types of purchases and in what amounts, etc.,” Coburn wrote. Municipalities should also speak with their banks about security controls to protect credit card payments, he added.
In neighboring Ohio, municipalities that have credit card accounts have to adopt written policies about how they are used and controlled. There is no similar requirement in Pennsylvania state law.
Elected officials are ultimately responsible for financial reporting to their constituents, according to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which sets accounting and financial reporting standards for U.S. state and local governments.
The Gregg Township board, which is part-time, did not see bank statements previously, Haupt told the public in last Thursday’s meeting.
The township has been working on an employee handbook since the beginning of 2024, according to meeting minutes. One of the planned additions to the handbook is to require regular reviews of financial statements by supervisors.
In the western part of the state, Rachael Heisler, Pittsburgh city controller, is investigating an alleged violation of the city’s credit card usage policy by its parks and recreation director, according to reports by TribLIVE.
During a Spotlight PA event about local government accountability earlier this year, Heisler said adding best practices to municipal policies and making financial records as publicly accessible as possible are key first steps toward fiscal responsibility.
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