DCI to investigate Manderson audit

The Town of Manderson is facing the Division of Criminal Investigation following their audit from the 2022 fiscal year, with the possibility of fraud to be evaluated. 

The audit, conducted by the Public Funds Division of the State of Wyoming Department of Audit, found significant internal control weaknesses, lack of governing body oversight, accuracy issues with the town’s census report, accounting errors and information technology weaknesses that may have led to missing money. 

The town allegedly violated 16 state and federal regulations. 

“Lack of governing body oversight, poor retention of documents and a lack of a strong tone at the top affected the entities’ ability to operate effectively … The governing body seemed to be unaware of their responsibilities for the Town,” the audit report reads.

During the time of the audit, the town clerk/treasurer position was passed around, with vacancies taken over by temps.

At a Sept. 9, 2022, meeting, council members accused Mayor Dennis Chambers of hiring staff three times without council approval, including Clerk Deb Chambers, the mayor’s daughter-in-law, who replaced Sabra Davis as she moved to the court clerk position. 

Clerk Chambers later resigned from her position, giving no public reason. Councilperson Julie Williams reported that the town’s Quickbooks system was “corrupted” and the council approved the purchase of new accounting software at the following meeting.

During the audit period, the town clerk and other public officials in charge of monies were not bonded, meaning no financial safeguard was put in place should fraud, embezzlement or other neglect of duties take place. No one reviewed the clerk’s work during this time. 

In a November 2021 meeting, councilmembers confronted Mayor Chambers with charging various unnecessary items to the town’s VISA card. At the time, Mayor Chambers accused Police Chief B.J. Kidgell of making the purchases, as he let Kidgell
borrow the card when his own got full; Kidgell denied the purchases were his. Kidgell is no longer the town’s police chief, having been charged in a separate case with six misdemeanors for two counts each of police interference, neglect of duty and unnecessary delay in serving a warrant in 2024. 

The audit found 139 out of 194 samples showed the town council had not approved expenditures and payments and 130 of 194 sampled payments were approved without a perjury statement. No W-4s or I-9s were found on file for any employee or governing body member of the town, and the town was not paying its 941 federal taxes. Timecards were not provided or verified for employees. 

Among the multitudes of errors listed in the document’s findings were utilities billing processes. Inconsistent sewer gallon usage which should remain the same every month, balances not being carried forward on utility bills, double-billing for mosquito services, and no set depreciation schedule for utilities were listed as issues. In August of 2021, tap fees were increased by $3 without a change in ordinance. 

Clerk Chambers reported that Manderson residents would be sent to collections for outstanding utilities balances in a Feb. 10, 2022, council meeting. She claimed unpaid bills as high as $3,000 were to be collected. 

The audit found late fees were not being consistently assessed and applied to invoices at the time, against town and state guidelines. 

Members of the council and town staff’s accounts were also analyzed, showing nine of 75 accounts on the aging report for more than 90 days, with no late fees applied to 22 of 104 employee accounts. 

In a Dec. 8, 2022 meeting, town maintenance supervisor Dave Frame approached the council. “I’ve been saying for a year we are taking in four times the water than we are putting out,” Frame said. “I monitor down there every day how much water we are putting out. Do we have a giant crack in the bottom of the water tank up there?”

Frame claimed that Ace Hardware would not allow him to charge any more purchases to the town’s account as their invoices were not being paid and remarked he had been threatened to be fired numerous times and received two death threats while working for the town. 

State statute also requires utilities to be self-supporting, and Manderson’s sewer was not by a difference of $1,203 for the fiscal year. Utilities amounts were underreported by $19,905 compared to the general ledger in the 2022 FY Census. 

Additionally, the audit found that court funds were not transferred to the general fund at all during the timeframe, there was no evidence to suggest the judge had been bonded, and the court did not maintain a separate bank account. Statute requires that court costs not exceed $10, and 100% of the docket entries tested surpassed the limit. Among other errors reported to the Census, $82,198 of all dockets collected during the audit period did not appear to be deposited in the Manderson Police Department bank account. 

All in all, the amount submitted for the Census was underreported by $276,695 for cash, $428,925 for revenue and $313,830 for expenditures compared to bank confirmations and the general ledger. At the time of the audit, the Town of Manderson had still not submitted its FY 2023 Census. Should the town not comply with reporting requirements, it risks sales, use and lodging tax withholding. 

In a letter addressed to the Department of Audit, present Mayor Rod Patrick with the support of Manderson Town Council members Tim Patrick, Sharon Sanford and Thea Saunders reported they had hired S&A Bookkeeping of Worland to “keep all of the cash, revenues, expenditures, courts and utilities for the town” as well as correct errors to the Census reports so they are not carried forward. 

“We realize we have a long way to go on getting this matter corrected and will continue to work on the implementation of all policies and procedures going forward,” the letter reads.