Solid waste audit finds less waste than expected

Most of the travel that stirred public outcry is called legitimate. Wake board still wonders.

RALEIGH -- A long-awaited audit of credit card purchases ordered after Wake County solid waste employees took dozens of out-of-state trips at taxpayer expense has determined the questionable spending was limited to that one government department.

However, narrow criteria for what the outside auditors classified as improper in a report issued Monday left several county commissioners wondering whether they had gotten the whole story.

"Defining 'questionable, wasteful and abusive' was very difficult," said Eddie Burke, an auditor with the firm Cherry, Bekaert & Holland. "Other people might come to a different conclusion."

The question was raised after the auditors found wasteful spending at a level much lower than what some on the county board were expecting.

Of the more than $1 million in purchases made by solid waste employees that the auditors reviewed, $16,010 was deemed questionable and abusive.

Of $5.9 million in spending reviewed from other county departments, only $220 was considered wasteful.

Burke said what his firm defined as improper was limited to purchases that did not have the required paperwork or was not properly approved by a supervisor. Those are the same criteria that would have to be met for the county to seek repayment in a court case, Burke said.

Craig P. Wittig, the former manager of the county's recycling program, was fired June 3 after questions were raised about at least 50 trips, including four visits to Walt Disney World and a whale-watching cruise off the coast of Maine.

In the little more than two years he worked for the county, Wittig averaged two out-of-town trips a month. He and five subordinates racked up $161,233 in travel costs and other expenses to credit cards issued by Wake County and paid for with public money.

The majority of those expenses were approved by James S. Reynolds, the director of solid waste management, who resigned July 8 amid withering public criticism.

Under the criteria the auditors used, much of the spending that triggered taxpayer outrage after it was made public did not qualify as questionable.

For example, tickets for the whale watching cruise and theme park passes for Walt Disney World were listed as questionable.

But most of the costs for the trips to Maine and Orlando were deemed legitimate, because they were approved by a supervisor and had an associated "business purpose" for the travel.

The nights county employees spent at a Las Vegas casino and days spent touring Yellowstone National Park also were not listed among the questioned spending.

What's wasteful?

Some on the county board disagreed with the auditor's assessment of what constituted wasteful spending.

"Just because there was a department head's signature on the form does not mean it isn't questionable," Commissioner Tony Gurley said after the auditor's presentation. "I think I deemed a lot more questionable than the auditor did."

The cost of the audit was not available Monday night, but a contract signed in July put the price between $125,000 and $150,000.

County Manager David Cooke said it was left to the auditors to determine what sort of expenses were questioned.

"Some of them [the solid waste employees] followed the county's policy," Cooke said. "But if someone asked me if that was a good use of county money, I'd say no."

Board Chairman Joe Bryan said he was relieved the auditors didn't find widespread abuses in other county departments, but he added that he wanted to know more details.

"We want a more thorough explanation of what was questionable and what wasn't," Bryan said. "I still have questions."