Audit: Dual-county agency must repay the state $168,437
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry determined Washington-Greene County Job Training Agency will have to repay the state $168,437.77, in the wake of L&I’s year-long audit of the nonprofit’s allocation of salaries.
That amount, revealed at a Monday morning meeting in Washington, is 15 percent of the $1.13 million in spending that L&I questioned in its preliminary findings in January. The audit found most of that amount, over a four-year period, was used to cover salaries for two presidents – David Suski, who left in June 2014, and his successor, Linda Bell, who retired in March – and other staffers.
WGCJTA uses federal, state and local funds to help residents of all income levels from Washington, Greene and Beaver counties through a number of job-related programs. The agency is the fiscal agent for the Southwest Corner Workforce Investment Board, which is not part of the governments of those counties, but is overseen by a panel of the counties’ nine commissioners, called Chief Local Elected Officials (CLEO).
“Kudos to the CLEOs, who in roughly one year knocked about $1 million off (the estimated cost),” said Will White, the CLEO solicitor, who announced results of the determination in Room 704 of Courthouse Square.
L&I asked the CLEO board to accept the determination and agree to the payment, which the commissioners did by an 8-0 vote. Chuck Morris of Greene County did not attend or participate by phone.
Labor & Industry this spring requested more information and data related to the audit, which began in the spring of 2014. The job-training agency accommodated.
“We worked pretty hard to get documentation to them. There was a lot of hard work by the board and commissioners, ” said Ami Gatts, WGCJTA president. “We’ll leave it up to the commonwealth to accept,”
The one-time payment of $168,437.77 could be executed as late as the end of October but probably will be made sooner. The CLEO board has 60 days to sign the agreement, with the state then having 30 days.
Washington County Commissioner Harlan Shober said, however, “Basically, we want to move as quickly as possible.”
When all approvals are completed, CLEO will make the payment, then go to WGCJTA’s insurance company for reimbursement. Payment of the $168,000-plus will be split among the three counties based on population: Washington 46 percent, Beaver 43 percent and Greene 11 percent.
Gatts and Shober acknowledged that there are still “worries” (her term) and “concerns” (his).
“Technically, there is no fixed agency agreement,” Gatts said.
“Some findings have some gray areas,” Shober said.
The audit covered fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.