Examine Spending Rules at County Level
Spending by four partially independent Monroe County agencies should be examined, county Auditor Pandora Neuhart told commissioners last week.
She cited the county Veterans’ Board’s action in giving an employee who opted not to take health insurance through the county a $10,000 stipend to help with his health care costs.
County policy does not permit payment of such stipends, Neuhart reminded commissioners.
They, in turn, told her the Veterans’ Board and three other agencies — the Board of Elections, Board of Developmental Disabilities and parks and recreation department — are not bound by many county policies.
Yet money to fund those agencies comes out of the county’s general fund budget.
There are some obvious reasons quasi-independent agencies are given such freedom. Still, it is a situation state legislators may want to consider — to save taxpayers’ money.
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