GRANITE FALLS — The state is raising questions about more than $2,600 in mileage paid to Mayor Lyle Romack and his wife in 2007 and 2008.
In a report on the city’s finances soon to be released by the state Auditor’s Office, the state lists 22 violations in those two years of state laws and guidelines for accounting and reimbursement policies for government agencies.
Romack says he was entitled to most of the mileage payments. He has repaid $373.89 to the city from receipts that he said were mistakenly submitted twice. He said the double submittal resulted from a bookkeeping error.
“We had no question about paying it back,” said Romack, who has been mayor for nearly six years.
The city did not have adequate policies in place for expense reimbursements, according to the Auditor’s report, which is dated July 16. City officials say they recently adopted new, tighter policies in this area.
The report also raises questions about more than $22,000 in travel expenses. The city said the expenses were legitimate but wrongly submitted as travel vouchers.
The city sent a response to the Auditor’s Office on Thursday. The Auditor’s Office will include the response in a final report due out Aug. 3, said Mindy Chambers, a spokeswoman for the Auditor.
The violations carry no legal penalty. The Auditor’s Office monitors local governments and publishes findings for information and to help jurisdictions be more accountable to the public, Chambers said.
Among the mileage payments was $553.14 to Romack’s wife for several trips to pick up flowers, plants and other supplies for a beautification project on S. Granite Avenue.
The auditor’s report simply notes that the mileage was “incurred by an individual not employed by the city.”
Romack said he was advised by the city clerk and then city attorney Greg Schrag that he could assign a designee to perform such duties, and that it made no difference whether it was a relative.
City Councilman Matt Hartman, who as mayor pro tem fills in as mayor at meetings in Romack’s absence, said he raised concerns about the mayor’s having a family member perform such tasks.
“We felt there was the potential for conflict of interest,” Hartman said. “The council had a very vocal discussion about it.”
Hartman said he voted against the reimbursement.
The city has since made it a policy not to allow volunteers or designees to be reimbursed for travel expenses.
Regarding the rest of the mileage, Romack said the interim clerk advised him to save it up and submit it in larger chunks rather than listing it one trip at a time.
“If it was three or five trips, I put one mileage for the whole thing,” he said.
Romack also said he itemized some of the trips, but not all. Many of the trips were for meetings with officials in other jurisdictions, he said.
The council approved the mileage because they were advised by city attorney Schrag that the city could be sued otherwise.
Schrag, who recently resigned from his contract with the city, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Romack said he discussed his options with Schrag after City Council members questioned some of the expenses.
“I did talk to the attorney about it because I felt I needed to be paid,” he said.
The city, in its response to the auditor, said it had no policies regarding large submissions of mileage because “prior to this, no mayor has asked for reimbursement on this scale.”
Hartman, who said council members were irritated by the large mileage submittals, said they told Romack he should either use a city vehicle or stop requesting reimbursement.
Romack said he now uses an old police car when traveling on city business.
Many of the violations occurred during a period after the city’s longtime city clerk and treasurer retired, officials said. Council members also said they felt Romack took too long to fill the positions with permanent staff, more than 1 ½ years.
“Unless the council pressures the mayor to fill positions, they don’t get filled,” Councilwoman Kathy Ganung said. “He’s just not been diligent.”
Romack said it was hard to find qualified people to fill the positions. He said he also trusted an employee to advertise the positions and it didn’t get done.
“I was trying to explain to the council it was very difficult to find a person to fill these spots,” he said.
Now, the city has a new clerk and treasurer, in addition to tightening its policies, officials said.
“Transition is difficult. That’s where we are right now,” Romack said. “I think we’re growing through the process.”
The city has had only one negative audit going back to 1997, according to the Auditor’s Office. It was in 2007, for failure to follow proper bidding procedures.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com.
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