July 13, 2007
- (The Caledonian-Record)
-
"Sheriff
Probe Triggers Review Of Policies" -
(Return
to News)
Sheriff Probe
Triggers Review Of Policies
BY JACOB L. GRANT, Staff Writer
- In light of a recent independent audit of the Essex County Sheriff's
Department, state Auditor Tom Salmon has been working with the Vermont
Sheriffs' Association to develop a new accounting manual and policies
pertaining to employee bonuses.
For the past five months, Salmon, along with Roger Marcoux Jr., Lamoille
County Sheriff and president of the association, and other bookkeeping
staff, have been meeting to revise the uniform accounting manual used by
Vermont's 14 county sheriffs' departments, according to a statement
released Tuesday by the auditor's office.
"Along with the accounting manual, we will also be recommending new
attention to policies and procedures addressing the issue of employee
recognition and merit bonus payments," Salmon said. "It's important to
have clear policies in place so that the taxpayers are never in the dark
about the appropriateness of bonus payments."
On Monday, it was reported that Salmon and Attorney General William
Sorrell were investigating former Essex County Sheriff Amos Colby for
nearly $25,000 in bonuses that he distributed to his former employees.
Both Salmon and Sorrell acknowledged that Colby's actions may very well
be legal, but that they were in the realm of questionable practices.
In Tuesday's statement, Salmon said the need for clearer policies became
apparent after an audit of the Essex County Sheriff's Department earlier
this spring revealed that $24,500 was awarded in bonus paychecks to
about 12 employees, including his wife and daughter. Salmon said the
department did not have a policy about how bonuses can be earned, who
can authorize them, and how much can be awarded.
Rewarding Employees
It is now his suggestion that the Sheriffs' Association develop
recommendations for all sheriffs about, A) how employees can be
nominated for a merit bonus, B) the maximum amount that can be awarded
each year, C) the performance criteria for a bonus, and, D) who can
authorize a bonus in case of a conflict of interest.
"Guidelines that give a county sheriff the ability to reward a deserving
employee for superior performance, while maintaining fiscal
accountability, will give people confidence that departments are being
managed at a high level," said Marcoux.
Auditors noted in their report that the Essex County bonuses were
"unprecedented" and "inappropriate" because they were awarded when the
department incurred a net loss of $54,390 during the previous seven
months.
During the time the department was losing money, auditors found
financial reports that would have alerted management to the situation,
but were not produced and reviewed by responsible officials.
Salmon also criticized Essex County assistant judges Allen Hodgdon and
Calvin Colby, both of whom are cousins of Amos Colby, for co-signing the
bonus checks.
"State law calls for the assistant judges to provide extra scrutiny of
disbursements when a sheriff is leaving office," Salmon said. "The
assistant judges approved the checks without clear documentation
supporting the expenditures."
Salmon noted that Amos Colby was a distinguished sheriff who had been
praised for his bravery and leadership in the past, but said, "these
bonus payments appear to be an unfortunate postscript to a fine career
serving the residents of Essex County."
Amos Colby was sheriff of Essex for about 20 years. He did not seek
reelection in November and was succeeded by Steve Gadapee, who assumed
office in February.
In a previous interview, Gadapee said he had recently been sending
complaints to the attorney general's office to try and draw his
attention to what he considered to be inappropriate actions on behalf of
Colby. |
