News
Apr 15 2010
Agency accused of abusing funds
A central Wisconsin agency that received more than $400,000 in federal stimulus money last year to help the poor is now accused of misusing revenues to buy cell-phone ring tones, pay an employee's mortgage and pay fines for drunken drivers.
It is not clear, however, whether the accusations of abuse involved stimulus money or other sources of cash for the North Central Community Action Program, a nonprofit organization that assists low-income residents in Wood, Marathon and Lincoln counties.
The agency, known as NCCAP, is facing scrutiny after a state-directed audit report called for the immediate dismissal of its executive director.
"The (Wisconsin) Department of Administration views these matters as serious and deserving of the board's immediate attention," Deputy Secretary Dan Schooff wrote this week in a letter to NCCAP Board President Pat Nikolai, directing the panel to "develop an effective and comprehensive corrective action plan" within eight days.
Among 22 points of concern noted in the state-directed audit conducted by Madison-based accounting firm Jefferson Wells: Organization money was used to pay fines to halt arrest warrants, to settle drunken-driving court fees and to pay an employee's home loans.
In addition, auditors reported that Executive Director Ron Schnyder did not take any apparent disciplinary action against an employee who was convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving after an Oct. 20 incident involving a company vehicle, according to the 21-page report. Instead, Schnyder signed a responsibility agreement for police to release both the employee -- who previously had served more than five years in prison for a 1992 drunken driving crash that killed a 9-year-old girl in Weston -- and the vehicle into his custody.
Two months later, authorities arrested the employee at a Wausau tavern for felony bail jumping, according to Marathon County Circuit Court records.
Schnyder said Tuesday board members will not be able to meet until April 28 to talk about the issues that require board approval. He would not discuss those issues, directing questions to board members, whom he expected to send the state a letter Tuesday in support of his performance.
"I can assure you this is a good organization that helps a lot of people and does not spend money inappropriately," Schnyder said, mentioning programs it facilitates to provide low-income people with emergency housing and utility assistance and money it has given to the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids and the Marshfield Job Center.
"In 23 years of audits, we have not had one single disallowed or questioned cost (until now)," Schnyder said. "One of our core values is to be accountable."
Staff members at the Wisconsin Rapids-based agency already have followed some of the recommendations, Schnyder said. They discontinued an employee loan program and notified United Way leaders in Wausau of what the audit called "poorly maintained" financial documentation of an account that holds a $62,000 United Way grant, he said. The executive director has complete control of the account, which violates NCCAP's own policies, according to the audit.
Nikolai, the agency's president, did not return a phone message left Tuesday at his home in Stratford. Fellow board member Deb McDonald, a student-support specialist at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, would not talk about the audit.
"At this point, I can't make any comments," McDonald said Tuesday in a voice mail message to a Gannett Central Wisconsin reporter. "Once a spokesman from the board has been established to address these issues, someone will be in contact with you."
It is not clear, however, whether the accusations of abuse involved stimulus money or other sources of cash for the North Central Community Action Program, a nonprofit organization that assists low-income residents in Wood, Marathon and Lincoln counties.
The agency, known as NCCAP, is facing scrutiny after a state-directed audit report called for the immediate dismissal of its executive director.
"The (Wisconsin) Department of Administration views these matters as serious and deserving of the board's immediate attention," Deputy Secretary Dan Schooff wrote this week in a letter to NCCAP Board President Pat Nikolai, directing the panel to "develop an effective and comprehensive corrective action plan" within eight days.
Among 22 points of concern noted in the state-directed audit conducted by Madison-based accounting firm Jefferson Wells: Organization money was used to pay fines to halt arrest warrants, to settle drunken-driving court fees and to pay an employee's home loans.
In addition, auditors reported that Executive Director Ron Schnyder did not take any apparent disciplinary action against an employee who was convicted of fifth-offense drunken driving after an Oct. 20 incident involving a company vehicle, according to the 21-page report. Instead, Schnyder signed a responsibility agreement for police to release both the employee -- who previously had served more than five years in prison for a 1992 drunken driving crash that killed a 9-year-old girl in Weston -- and the vehicle into his custody.
Two months later, authorities arrested the employee at a Wausau tavern for felony bail jumping, according to Marathon County Circuit Court records.
Schnyder said Tuesday board members will not be able to meet until April 28 to talk about the issues that require board approval. He would not discuss those issues, directing questions to board members, whom he expected to send the state a letter Tuesday in support of his performance.
"I can assure you this is a good organization that helps a lot of people and does not spend money inappropriately," Schnyder said, mentioning programs it facilitates to provide low-income people with emergency housing and utility assistance and money it has given to the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids and the Marshfield Job Center.
"In 23 years of audits, we have not had one single disallowed or questioned cost (until now)," Schnyder said. "One of our core values is to be accountable."
Staff members at the Wisconsin Rapids-based agency already have followed some of the recommendations, Schnyder said. They discontinued an employee loan program and notified United Way leaders in Wausau of what the audit called "poorly maintained" financial documentation of an account that holds a $62,000 United Way grant, he said. The executive director has complete control of the account, which violates NCCAP's own policies, according to the audit.
Nikolai, the agency's president, did not return a phone message left Tuesday at his home in Stratford. Fellow board member Deb McDonald, a student-support specialist at Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids, would not talk about the audit.
"At this point, I can't make any comments," McDonald said Tuesday in a voice mail message to a Gannett Central Wisconsin reporter. "Once a spokesman from the board has been established to address these issues, someone will be in contact with you."
