County Business Oversight - Who Does It? | Eastern North Carolina Now

County Business Oversight - Who Does It?

    Who is the protector of the County money? How do we make sure our County money is spent according to the budget prepared by the Commissioners? Who makes sure tax dollars are not stolen? The long answer is a lot of people including department heads, the county finance officer and the County manger. The short answer, at the end of the day is, the County Commissioners are responsible. All of them collectively as a board and even individually when assigned to specific boards.

    The County Board of Commissioners is required by state law to have an annual audit by an independent, and qualified auditor to verify there are no obvious problems with the way the business of the County is conducted. The auditor verifies that we have the proper bank accounts, invested surplus funds and financial controls within departments so that we are conducting business in a business like way. Notice I said business, government is a business funded by taxes. The auditor applies tests to make sure our employees are actually doing what they say they are doing, An annual audit report is submitted to he Board of County Commissioners that details irregularities and verifies that best practices are being followed. The audit report gives everyone a warm and cozy feeling but it only scratches the surface of honesty.

    The work of the auditor for the most part, deals with the big picture and top management practices. The Board o Commissioners appoints members of the public and individual commissioners to serve on various boards so they have someone who is close to the department management in order to know when county policy and regulations are not being followed. Some examples of commissioner appointments are the Economic Development Board, the Board of Health, the Hospital Board and the Community College Board. Commissioners appointed to serve on boards have a first responsibility to their elected office and a secondary responsibility to their appointed board.
Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson speaking to many of his constituents at the Candidates Forum, help on April 2, 2012 at Beaufort CountyCommunity College: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage

    Unfortunately commissioners in Beaufort County have become either confused about their responsibility or have failed to understand the reason for their appointment. Some have simply done no board work or used the appointment for their personal political gain. Most are converted into champions of the board on which the have been appointed. Robert Cayton and Jay McRoy have repeatedly defended the bad behavior of the Hospital Board and the Board of Health. The loss of the hospital and the contracting mess in the Health Department have been repeatedly defended by these two commissioners.

    The hospital was given to University Health Systems because of the failure to manage the billing department, nepotism, lavish contracts to staff, and the inability of the Hospital Board to recognize the need for a cash reserve. Jay McRoy sat on this board for more than 15 years while all of this was going on. He failed to ever notify commissioners of the sad state of affairs. He defended the hospital to the bankrupt end.

    Commissioner Robert Cayton sits on the Board of Health. He consistently defends the contracts that are entered into by the Health Director without the prior approval to the Board of Health. Some of these contracts are not budgeted by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners. Some are contracts with adjoining Counties. Beaufort County tax payers have accumulated unknown liability from the Board of Health without Bob Cayton appearing to be aware of his obligation to the taxpayers of Beaufort County. Could it be that if you are running for a higher office you cannot afford to upset people by explaining right and wrong to them. This is another example of a self serving interest put ahead of his elective office.

    Warren Smith has exposed several irregularities at the Economic Development Board. Among the problems are the failure to monitor and comply with grant regulation, and the spending of about 6 million dollars with out a recovery plan. The tax payers may have to pay out as much as 500 thousand dollars for the Economic development grant debacle. Jay McRoy is one of our representatives on the Economic Development Board.

    These are situations we know about. There probably are other expensive surprises out there.

    The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners has failed to provide oversight to insure public funds are being properly spent. The failure of he Hospital Board, the Health Board and the Economic Development Board have become known to the public during the past four years. We have had the same Board of Commissioners for more than eight years. Looks like the pattern of the majority of the Board not holding individual commissioners responsible will not change. The time has come to change out enough commissioners to create a trustworthy board.
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