This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown.
SPRING MILLS — More than a half million dollars in taxpayer money is missing from a Centre County township, and local officials say it might have been misappropriated.
A suspended employee “appears to have been involved in a series of transactions that resulted in large amounts of money being spent from township accounts,” an attorney speaking on behalf of Gregg Township told the public Thursday. Officials said the employee might have used a credit card for the transactions in question.
An accountant the township hired to look into the matter estimated the potential losses at $532,747.67, said attorney John Lhota, of the law firm Miller, Kistler & Campbell, which serves as the solicitor for the township. The township previously reported that the figure would be “well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Pennsylvania State Police are conducting a criminal investigation, a spokesperson told Spotlight PA in an email. He didn’t provide any other details.
The employee, who Spotlight PA is not naming because they haven’t been charged with a crime, has been suspended without pay.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, two residents questioned what protocols should have been in place.
Township Supervisor Ben Haupt said the board did not see bank statements previously.
“We didn’t see those. We didn’t see credit card statements,” Haupt said, adding that has changed. “We’re seeing everything. OK?”
“There’s been more implemented than there ever has been in the past,” Supervisor Charles Stover said. However, he did not specify what actions the township has taken. Stover promised a full report for the public “as soon as we can.”
The board did not explain how it became aware of potential misuse of the funds, but the township has held at least five special meetings so far this year to work on an employee handbook. The agenda for the April special meeting included an addition to the handbook that requires “[giving] copy of checks and bank statements to supervisors every month.”
Lhota said the township has a bond policy that could cover the losses. In the interim, the township has hired one of its supervisors, Vicky Vanada, as secretary and treasurer.
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