Reprinted from The Connecticut Post © Copyright 2009
April 23, 2009

By Susan Silvers

TRUMBULL -- Some town departments didn't follow requirements to report income, others didn't analyze their revenues. And some revenue lapses raised questions about conflicts of interest.

When the town's internal auditor, Lynn Scully, late last year looked into how revenue income is tracked, she found there was lots of room for improvement.

Now, several months after Scully left her post for a new job, the Board of Finance will examine just how far officials have gone in addressing her concerns. The session is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall, the same night the Town Council is slated to vote on the 2009-10 budget.

"We need to see more regular revenue reports from individual departments tracking permits and fees," board Chairwoman Kathleen McGannon said.

Fees, permits and fines -- ranging from state-set license fees to town-arranged rentals -- were expected to generate roughly 3 percent of this year's $132 million budget, or nearly $4 million, a major sum. Scully found the money was poorly tracked.

She said the level of detail was often wanting, including the status of fees owed, which fees had been waived and trends in collections. She added that a charter requirement to provide the Town Council with quarterly reports has not been met.

Furthermore, she said, the fees have not been analyzed for their suitability or compared to those of neighboring towns during the budgeting process.

But perhaps most seriously, the report found "two specific issues of concern" -- a barter agreement and questionable billing practices -- relating to use of the Spring Hill Road parking facility, where the parking fee is $20 per linear foot annually.

Scully questioned arrangements with two companies, Mansfield Construction/Michael Infante & Sons and A&A Paving. "Both of these companies have relatives who presently work for the town's Department of Public Works, which might give the appearance of preferential treatment," she noted.

In fact, state records link Public Works Director John Delvecchio with A&A Paving, which Scully said "appears to have not been properly billed" from Sept. 1, 2006, to June 14, 2008. She reported the company then paid the "it was unclear how to apply this payment due to the inaccurate billing." No contractual agreements with the company identifying vehicles and proving they were properly registered and insured were on file either, she said.

State records list Delvecchio, along with his brother-in-law, Henry Rydecki, as a debtor in connection with a lien placed on the company.

Delvecchio said Tuesday that he's received "no financial reward" from the company for "many years." Asked why he would still be listed as a debtor, he said he'd have to look into it.

Mansfield Construction/Michael Infante & Sons had a barter agreement with the town to provide services in lieu of paying for the parking, Scully reported. "But there was insufficient documentation in the files to determine if these materials and/or services were actually received by the town," she said.

"All potential conflicts of interest should be properly disclosed to the town's administration," Scully wrote in the report. "Under such circumstances, additional controls can be instituted to monitor transactions and ensure that no preferential treatment is afforded such a company," she added.

Delvecchio said A&A's arrangement was with Mansfield, not the town, and that Mansfield's barter agreement long predated his departmental leadership. "When Lynn said we shouldn't do it, it was discontinued," he said.