Montville – The Water Pollution Control Authority is considering new spending controls after an audit revealed questionable credit card spending by authority officials and employees. 

The audit last summer identified almost $30,000 in questionable spending, which led to repeated attempts by the WPCA to codify changes to its business practices.

The audit, conducted by New York City accounting firm PKF O'Connor Davies, found questionable spending by WPCA personnel between 2014 and 2018, including credit card expenditures of almost $13,000 at Mohegan Sun's Tuscany, Bobby Flay's Bar Americain, Chili's and other restaurants without "documentation on who was present or the purpose of the expense," along with additional unexplained purchases. The findings prompted a state police investigation, which is ongoing.

Audit recommendations included more stringent financial oversight at the WPCA, new policies to prevent fraud, a code of ethics and more straightforward expense reports, among others.

In response, on Feb. 3, commissioners Shawn Jinkerson and Brian Quinn made just one recommendation -- that all non-operational expenses exceeding $200 and not covered by union contract not be allowed without prior authority approval.

This would apply to meals, clothing, gifts of any sort and personal charges. In addition, operational and nonoperational expenses should be separate and all non-operational expenses would be explained each month to the authority. 

The authority tabled action on the recommendation until next month's meeting.

Authority members discussed whether the $200 expense that would trigger prior authority approval should be adjusted. Commissioner Tony Siragusa and Town Councilor Tim May, who serves as a liaison to the authority, suggested a definition of "non-operational expenses" would also be helpful.

Jinkerson and Quinn were asked to clarify why their report, which they worked on during the past month along with input from WPCA Superintendent Derek Albertson, only included one recommendation.

"I never understood why we went through this [the private audit] line by line because every single procedure in here really wasn't what the direct issue was," Quinn said. "What was found to be quote unquote unethical was the non-operational expenses. So to have to go through and try to suggest everything to reinvent the wheel at the WPCA, that's going overboard in my opinion."

In presenting the one recommendation, Jinkerson decried the bad press that has plagued the WPCA for at least the past 17 years. But he blamed the WPCA, not the media, for this.

"Examples are embezzlement, finance controls, personal issues, unethical charitable donations and lawsuits. And now this," Jinkerson said.

He added that over that time the same town officials assured residents that tighter controls and policy changes would be implemented.

Jinkerson, who is a relatively new member of the WPCA, went on to say he was not accusing anyone at the meeting of anything, he was only commenting from until recently, an outsider's perspective. He blamed mismanagement and bad press on authority members acting as individuals and "believing they have authority where they do not."

Quinn and Jinkerson recognized the recommendation does not go far enough, and only addresses non-operational fraud. 

It was the second public meeting in a row that Jinkerson took the commission to task for the WPCA's past issues as well as its current handling of the response to two audits.

The meeting answered another glaring question for the commission. A town audit, separate from the authority audit, conducted by Mahoney Sabol & Company, originally required an action plan detailing how the WPCA planned to respond to the problems. Albertson explained why the town auditors ultimately deemed the action plan unnecessary.

"Initially their audit findings depicted the WPCA financial deficiencies and considered them significant, enough to warrant a corrective action plan by the WPCA," Albertson said. "But I spoke to them, they reviewed what we're doing down at the plant, and upon further review, the segregation of duties control was deemed adequate to mitigate concern."

May, a prominent town Democrat, is a longtime WPCA member, including serving as chairman. Former WPCA Chairman and Republican Town Councilor Jeff Rogers has been vocal in his accusations against May, who Rogers alleges improperly used a WPCA credit card.

After last week's meeting, May said those allegations are wrong and irresponsible. He also defended the WPCA's current controls.

"The WPCA is audited twice a year. Once mandatory by law, and the other one is because of the previous stuff," May said. "Our budget still has to go to the Town Council for their review. We also have a mayor sitting on the WPCA. That's definite oversight right there."

May said to take the questionable spending identified in the private audit is small compared to the overall authority budget and noted he didn't see each and every WPCA expense.

"Look at the chemical costs per month of the WPCA budget – 30, 40, 50 thousand a month," May said. "They're basically saying just because I was there, I'm culpable, or I was part of the problem."