State had warned of suspicious expense claims one year ago
State auditors warned Skamania County commissioners a year ago that the office of County Auditor J. Michael Garvison was not adequately documenting its travel and other expense claims, but no action was taken to correct the problem.
Among the problems auditors identified then were travel reimbursement claims “for per diem costs while not in travel status,” “unsupported” travel claims, and extra days in travel status “with no clear business purpose.”
“We recommend that County improve its internal controls over expenditures for travel, individuals’ expense reimbursements, and purchases made by county procurement cards,” the auditors said in a formal Exit Conference, a written report that was presented in person to county elected officials on Nov. 5, 2008.
Garvison’s spending on travel, education and purchase of personal electronics is now the subject of a state audit. According to travel documents obtained by former county prosecuting attorney Bradley Andersen, Garvison billed the county more than $50,000 for travel in 2008 and at least $32,000 as of September of this year. The elected auditor has traveled to conferences in Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Montreal, Canada, and twice to Florida this year.
On Monday, Garvison submitted his resignation as county auditor, effective Sunday. On Monday, he is scheduled to begin a new job as chief financial officer for the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District in Oregon City.
Patti Jarrett, chairwoman of the district’s board, told KATU-TV early this week that the board had done “due diligence” in examining Garvison’s expense reports and had found no reason for concern. Jarrett and the board’s vice chairwoman, Jan Lee, were traveling this week and could not be reached for comment.
Garvison himself told KATU-TV early this week that “we just had a clean audit.” He did not return an e-mail at his office seeking comment on whether he divulged the full audit report to the board.
Technically, Garvison’s statement is true, said Rick Murie, an auditor who works in the state auditor’s Vancouver office and helped conduct the most recent audit of Skamania County.
Murie said the exit conference, in which county commissioners and Garvison himself were presented with a long list of concerns about the county’s system of financial controls, was an official part of the audit. It covered the period from Jan. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2007.
Exit conferences detail “areas we have concerns with and would like the specific government to look into further that are not included in our written report,” he said. “Our opinion is that the report is clean. That doesn’t mean we didn’t note issues of concern.”
In order for those concerns to be listed as official findings in the audit, he said, “we would have to find a specific policy or statute that these activities violated.”
In addition to out-of-town travel expenses, auditors also questioned Garvison’s claim for reimbursement of $8,000 in costs he incurred for earning an MBA from Upper Iowa University last year; purchase by the auditor’s office of several cell phones, laptop computers and other electronic devices; extra mileage received for use of a personal vehicle; valet parking, and unitemized room service charges.
Skamania County Commissioner J.R. Richardson said that after last year’s exit conference, commissioners “sat down immediately and initiated a review of our policy, much of which is 15 to 20 years old and obviously out of date.” They also solicited advice from other elected officials and department heads.
Commissioners then hired a consultant to review county policy regarding financial controls and make recommendations, Richardson said. Those recommendations will be reviewed at a future commissioners’ meeting, he said.
Richardson declined to comment on the current audit. But he said there are good reasons the county reimburses employees for educational costs. “To get quality people is tough, because we don’t pay as much as people can make in the metropolitan area,” he said. He said he was unaware that Garvison was earning an MBA on the county’s dime.
Asked why commissioners didn’t flag a 10-fold increase in the auditor’s office travel budget during their annual budget deliberations, Richardson said Garvison is “more active than most elected officials” because of his involvement in state and national auditors’ organizations.
“With department heads and electeds, if it looks reasonable and within the guidelines of affordability, we approve it, and at that point it’s their responsibility to show integrity and fulfill their duties,” Richardson said. “The oversight on electeds is pretty much in their hands.”
Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.
