8/4/02

The maintenance department's bookkeeping system does little to guarantee that the goods paid for ever arrive.

By PEGGY SINKOVICH

and STEPHEN SIFF

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN -- Trumbull County spends roughly 20 times more on cleaning supplies from one of the maintenance department's primary accounts now than in 1992, with no clear mechanism in place to make sure it gets what it's paying for.

Until recently, the county gave this business -- worth about $250,000 a year -- to whatever suppliers happened to come through the door, said Tony Delmont, director of maintenance for county buildings.

"Some of it, we could probably get a little cheaper at Sam's Club, but we've been working with these suppliers for years," he said.

The maintenance department's bookkeeping system does little to guarantee if the goods paid for ever arrive.

Although the maintenance department saves packing slips that are shipped with the supplies, they are never matched up with bills suppliers later send through the mail.

When The Vindicator sorted through records last week, there seemed to be no packing slips on file for a large number of purchases that were invoiced and paid.

Missing packing slips: For example, so far this year, the maintenance department made 75 purchases from Lid Chem, a Girard company, out of several accounts it controls.

However, the department has only 19 packing slips showing that Lid Chem deliveries were received.

"We don't have someone here at all times to check the boxes and make sure what we ordered is there, so sometimes the companies will just leave the box and someone unloads it later," he said. "We tell people to put the packing slips in the box, but sometimes they forget."

If merchandise wasn't arriving, people would notice because they would run out of supplies, he reasoned.

"There should definitely be packing slips to go with everything," said James Tsagaris, a county commissioner. "That is the only way you make sure you got it."

For instance, a county purchase order states that the maintenance department bought five cases of toilet bowl cleaner and six cases of wood furniture polish July 1 with funds earmarked for the jail.

The purchase order says the items were received at the jail and the county paid $400.50.

Sheriff Thomas Altiere and the jail custodian agree they did not order or get any such merchandise. The jail has very little wood that needs polishing, they said.

Possible explanation: Delmont said he probably ordered the merchandise for another department that was low on funds and placed it in the jail account.

He said he does not know what department the merchandise was ordered for or who may have placed the order.

"No one can prove that we didn't get the merchandise," Delmont said. "I'm not a saint, but I wouldn't jeopardize my job for a few hundred bucks. I have a good job, and too many people know what is going on." 

Delmont said the huge increase in the amount spent on cleaning supplies is because the county buildings are simply cleaner now than they were back in 1992, when the county was broke.

He said his department employs 14 custodians now, compared with three back then.

Until recently, most of the supplies needed to keep Trumbull County offices humming were bought through informal relationships with vendors, not competitive bidding.

Soliciting bids: In March, however, commissioners, for the first time, solicited formal bids for the 11 most used products, said Tony Carson, director of purchasing.

Officials said the lower prices for toilet paper, paper towels and other items obtained through competitive bidding would save the county $40,000 a year.

"I believe, as a control measure, we are going to have to require all departments to keep packing slips with invoices," said Commissioner Michael O'Brien.

"We weren't required to do that before, but I think it's a good idea," he said.

This story was  the first of dozens Peggy and I wrote about Trumbull County after getting an anonymous letter alleging bribery and theft.

The stories inspired several criminal investigations. This fall, Delmont was indicted for theft in office, bribery, and money laundering. Prosecutors estimate the theft to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. One vendor has already been convicted.

The stories won first place for government reporting at the 2003 Ohio SPJ Awards and first place for investigative reporting at the 2002 Ohio AP Awards in The Vindicator's circulation class.