So stated Hamilton Selectman Jennifer Scuteri during a meeting of the HWRSD Operational Audit Committee on February 9th. Her answer was in response to a question posed by resident George LaMontagne about a section of the audit report that said that only about $200,000 out of yearly budget of approximately $600,000 for maintenance was actually spent on maintenance...for years. Mr. LaMontagne simply wanted to know what happened to the remaining $400,000 per year.This does not seem to be an unreasonable request considering that over a period of years we are talking about more than $1 million.
Here are some other comments from that meeting regarding the question of the unaccountable funds from the maintenance budget:
Molly Martins (Wenham Selectman): "It may be that the information does not exist in a format that's discernible."
Jennifer Scuteri: "I think everybody is just acknowledging that at best we know that $200k was spent. Um, there's no good record keeping. We don't know where the rest of the money went. And going forward, I think there's going to be more transparency."
Roger Kuebel (Wenham Finance Committee, to Mr. LaMontagne): "Are you concerned that there was fraud?"
George LaMontagne: "I can't answer that Roger. We don't know."
Molly Martins: "The coulda, shoulda, would haves...and we know they weren't doing it well. That became evident. I think most people knew it, and it became documented in the report. That confirmed what many people believed."
Jennifer Scuteri: "I feel a little bit like it's just an acknowledgment that there was bad accounting and we don't know where the money is...There's no way she (we) can track it...it's not by school. It's not by what was done."
Does anyone else other than George LaMontagne want to know what happened to that missing (yearly) $300k to $400k?
While the new school administration has thus far proven to be open, caring, transparent and competent, it would appear the question of the missing funds is something the audit committee would rather forget about and trust that it will not happen again. After all, they imply, what good will it do to know where the money went? We need to move forward, they suggest, and not dwell on the past.
To that, I say "BULL PUCKY".
Over the past 13 years, because of ten Proposition 2.5 overrides for the schools, the taxpayers in Hamilton and Wenham have cumulatively paid more than $40 million (in override costs only) to the HWRSD. As most of you know, the overrides became part of the tax levy so taxpayers are burdened with those costs again and again, each and every year. And now certain officials are hoping you will simply forget about a measly $1+ million or so and "look forward, not back."
You know, as in...
SWEEP IT UNDER THE RUG
The taxpayers of Hamilton and Wenham deserve more. They authorized $90,000 for the operational audit. They deserve an answer to Mr. LaMontagne's question. Only then can Roger Kuebel's question be answered. Only then can they be assured that it will not happen again. Only then will those responsible for what appears to have been excessive and abusive spending, and deviations from accepted practices, be held accountable. That's what the taxpayers expect and deserve.
Perhaps James Thurber said it best:
"Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness."
one gets the impression that members of the board of selectmen in both towns really wish questions like this would go away. They seem to adopt the same attitude as the school board..it happened, and its done, let it go..don't question it anymore...sorry but times have changed in both towns...wake out town officials, taxpayers want answers not excuses.
ReplyDeleteand to keep up with other news in Hamilton and Wenham, check out Patch.Com and read the column, Talk of The Towns which now on the internet.....
ReplyDelete"What good would it do to know where the money went"? Are you joking? There is a need to identify the accounting pathway through which this money has vanished so it can never happen again. Is this beyond the expertise of Evergreen? Does this necessitate a forensic accountant?
ReplyDeleteThe town of Hamilton can't afford another scandal after the Police and Fire issues and will hide behind the comment by Scutari - Because they do not want to show even more malfeasance on the part of this town that they, as Selectman ultimately hold the final control over and where the buck stops when enormous mistakes are made. There has not, nor will be in any future of Hamilton "transparency", but there will be Selectman willing to sweep any scandal possible under the already full rug. Great job as always Jay!
ReplyDelete"It may be that the information does not exist in a format that's discernible." Classic.
ReplyDeleteRemember that all the tax increases are "for the children" and it is obvious that children are managing our finances.
Great article - thanks for letting us know.
Best letter to the editor that I've ever read (Salem News)! This is the core of the entire argument re: overrides , $, etc. WELL DONE!
ReplyDeleteMore evidence we are being over-taxed. They are not saying anything except 'shut up and pay whatever bill we give you'. And this is just a little town budget -how do you think the state is doing? The feds?
ReplyDeleteThe exact same situation arose in Beverly where they too were missing $400k and that led to high repair cost due to neglect which is leading to a call for the dpw to take care of all the maintenance.So it is important to know where the money is going because as in Beverly you end up paying for the neglect. Every school system needs to be audited as in Hamilton. Schools are big businesses and need to be run as such.
ReplyDeleteWay to go Jay, great letter. Wonder if we'll ever find out where it went?
ReplyDeleteIf I had to bet my house, a line item examination would show a "slush fund" that was buried in the mundane details of the slice dedicated to the physical plant - the component of ther school budget that is most uninteresting - until something goes on the fritz. There is a reason that when in the past I asked for line item copies of the school budget, I received a single 8 x 11 page of numbers with zero useable detail. I was told at the time "that is all we are legally required to furnish...". But anybody who has ever worked to defend a departmental budget in a large business knows exactly what went on - a little rainy day fund that got spent not necerssarily on fraudulent outlays but rather, was applied to cover shortfalls in other departments or was carried into the next year (supposedly as the result of frugal budgeting in the preceding year.)
ReplyDeleteActually, its a very simple where the money went....Every year when the school officials made up their yearly budget, if they didn't have enough funds, they just took the funds out of the maintainence section and that's why the buildings and such are in disrepair, etc....
ReplyDeleteHey Jay,
ReplyDeleteI know it was a long time ago..., but weren't two members of this Board of Selectmen adamantly against the Operational Audit and confident that the 90 Grand would be a waste of money and not yield any substantial cost saving? Maybe this explains their positions on the matter.
I have been wondering about the missing 400K every year. It should have been spent on the maintenance, and the school building would be in good shape now. To me this is deceitful at best and fraudulent at worse. Does it border on grand theft? Probably not, but the agreement to fund the budget with our tax dollars was made based on the items in the budget. It seems that if money allocated to the building maintenance is diverted elsewhere, it would or should be necessary to inform the voters, and let them OK that their tax dollars are going for a different use. That a schools accounting is so shabby, absolutely astounds me. I took care of the books for St. Mary's in Beverly for 10 years, and every single item was recorded, manually (no computers) where items can be combined and hidden. I had the Church Building, the Rectory, the Convent, the School, and two parolls, and over 20 accounts and when one opened the books they could see everything down to what was spent on even a sports banquet including napkins, etc. and how much. There is no reason that the books are not kept in a completely accurate to the penny accounting. This bookkeeping that they use should be against the law. They have a fiduciary responsibility to provide an accounting of all of our tax dollars. Thanks....Paula M. Bianchi EIE Member
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in Hamilton and now live in Wenham, I read the article by Jay and couldn't believe the school committee has no idea where the money allocated for maintenance but not completely used just disappeared. I should think the people should be yelling, FIND IT? An out of town fiend involved in a voted position said, unless explained to the satisfaction of the people, the DA's office should be involved. It boils down to intelligence or common sense and hands down common sense wins. Jay and leading members of EIE have done a great job of researching and letting the people know the facts. WHERE"S THE MONEY. Having been fortunate to travel and see beautiful places, these two New ENgland towns are special but these are difficult times even in affulent Hailton and Wenham.
ReplyDelete