SUNBURY — Most people are probably familiar with the term “junk drawer.” Well, the way the new Northumberland County planning director described it, the department had a big one and millions of dollars of grants were getting lost in the mix.
In a memorandum released to the press Tuesday at the commissioners meeting, new director Steve Bartos wrote “no consistent financial records were kept resulting in numerous billings going unpaid, misappropriation of funds, insufficient documentation on administrative expenses and inadequate bookkeeping practices.”
Furthermore, “the historical records that do exist show a pattern of mismanagement that occurred over a period of years which slowly eroded away the ability of the planning department to operate in a fiscally responsible compliant manner with state and federal regulatory requirements, and operate efficiently.”
The county nearly missed the boat on $2.7 million in grant money, he reported. Staff worked feverishly to meet deadlines and move funding forward
A main concern, Bartos said is state and federal funding requirements were not always followed and the previous department staff kept spotty records. It’ll take several months for the current staff to bring old records up to date.
As an example, Bartos cited the following inconsistencies in Community Development Block Grants for fiscal year 2006:
• A grant for $42,250 was awarded to the Northumberland County Industrial Development Authority for job creation, however, NCIDA director Jim King, said there has been no program activity. More than $2,300 has been drawn down from the grant but there is no record of where it went.
• There were six CDBG 2007 projects earmarked to share the 2006 entitlement, but only three saw any project activity in 2007. However, the county ledgers show this account exceeded 2007 budget by $56,000.
Bartos noted no records support administrative withdrawals for any of the grant funds. Administrators are entitled to collect expenses from all of the funds, but only if it can be documented how the money is being used.
“Apparently, the planning staff was using the general ledgers generated by the controllers office to support all of their department’s administrative draws,” said Barto. “This is not acceptable practice according to state and federal regulatory guidelines.”
He added the planning department is routinely receiving phone calls from grantees asking why checks haven’t been issued yet. There are many instances where allowable withdrawals have not been made and it is likely that there are some undocumented debts.
Between February and May, grants from DCED, the Department of State, Federal Transit Authority and PennDOT, which pay for projects like tourism promotion, voting equipment, capital purchases, upgrades and job creation — totaling about $2.7 million — were rescued.
For example, the grant for the Help America Vote Act, worth $917,565, for voting machines and building compliance, was neglected by the previous staff and more than two years worth of quarterly reports dating back to fiscal year 2006 had to be completed. The grant money could not be released until documentation was received. If action wouldn’t have been taken quickly, the county would have been responsible for paying $739,139 for new voting machines, according to Bartos.
Bartos noted a full report is forthcoming, and audits will be performed, which should provide a new baseline to stay compliant with state and federal guidelines.
In addition to saving grants, the new director was pleased to report the department generated almost $1 million in grants.
At the meeting, commissioner Vinny Clausi said this is just another turn around for the county. He said these recent findings are reflective of the county’s long legacy of mismanagement.
Commissioner Frank Sawicki said some of the problems stem from previous administration because grant responsibility was shared between county offices when it should all run through the planning office.

Jeff Shaffer: 570-742-9671
jeff@standard-journal.com