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Mecklenburg County commissioners said Tuesday they likely will never know what happened to untold thousands of dollars from the Department of Social Services.
The remarks came after commissioners listened to a report critical of accounting practices at DSS spending programs meant to help children and poor families.
An investigation into alleged misspending at a DSS Christmas charity has been broadened across the entire agency. Officials recently said they cannot say how much money might have been misspent during the last five years.
During a meeting Tuesday, commissioners said it might be impossible to determine how tens of thousands of dollars were spent because receipts are missing or altered.
“I doubt we will ever find out all there was that went wrong,” Commissioner George Dunlap said.
A report from the commissioners' Audit Review Committee sharply criticized DSS for “insufficient” financial controls and management.
“At present, it is unclear why or how the lack of controls developed or how long they have existed,” the report said.
The findings prompted Commissioner Karen Bentley to ask about accounting safeguards in all the county's agencies.
County Manager Harry Jones said he is “confident” the county has adequate financial controls in place, but added there is “a risk in saying this.”
Jones said officials previously have discussed whether the county has “the right financial structure.”
Before the public meeting, commissioners met in closed session with Jones to discuss whether he and other top county managers should share some blame for the problems at DSS. Afterwards, some voiced support for Jones. The committee's report said management's response to the concerns raised in the audit were sufficient.
The DSS accounting failures became public this year when Director Mary Wilson said she and an employee uncovered questionable expenditures and bookkeeping.
Since then the county has suspended two DSS employees who were suspected of taking $110,000. One of them has been cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated, while the other is on medical leave.
County officials say the two oversaw a Christmas charity which cannot fully account for $162,000. That includes a $10,000 check made out to an employee.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are helping the county investigate. No criminal charges have been filed.
Dunlap and other commissioners debated whether they should continue to spend money to investigate what happened and who's to blame. The county paid $93,000 to outside auditors to examine DSS.
Some officials noted that commissioners recently passed a 2009-10 budget that includes cuts in county services, layoffs for hundreds of educators and closing libraries on Sundays.
“The commission has to take the responsibility to make sure we don't pour money into a dark hole,” Dunlap said.
But Commissioner Bill James disagreed, saying it is important that the county find out whether managers failed to enforce policies.
“The real question is what's going on at DSS finance,” James said. “Who (was) in charge of DSS finance?”
