Apr 13, 2015 3 min read

The board of county commissioners that oversees the Southwest Corner Workforce Investment Board should know by the end of the month the outcome of a lengthy state investigation into a nonprofit job training agency’s allocation of salaries.

In January, the state Department of Labor & Industry released preliminary findings questioning $1.13 million in spending during the past four years by the Washington-Greene County Job Training Agency, which is also the fiscal agent for the Southwest Corner Investment Board.

WGCJTA is a nonprofit agency that is not part of any of the county governments in its service area. It uses local, state and federal funds to help residents at all income levels in Washington, Greene and Beaver counties through a variety of programs, including those re-entering the workforce, veterans, those who recently lost a job as well as others who are starting their own businesses.

During a regular meeting of the Chief Local Elected Officials panel Monday, board solicitor Will White explained that he had been told by L&I Acting Secretary Kathy Manderino that board members could meet with her in Harrisburg April 22, or wait for the department to release its final determination letter regarding the allegations.

At the core, the amount in question focused on $981,200 in costs L&I said were allocated for executive salaries and expensed to various WGCJTA projects it said were “not based on relative benefit to the funding streams overseen by the Southwest Corner Investment Board.”

The review found the amount in question was primarily used to cover salaries for former director David Suski, who left the agency in June, and Linda Bell, who succeeded Suski as director but retired in March, as well as salaries for other staffers.

White said at an earlier meeting this winter that it remains to be seen how much of the money in question will have to be repaid.

Whatever the amount, which could be significantly reduced if L&I accepts the agency’s documentation, the final tally will be the responsibility of the CLEO, which oversees the work of the WIB, White said. If the department requires money to be returned, White said the CLEO could work out a formula to return the money, negotiate for a lump-sum payment or withhold funds from administration to pay the final amount.

By mid-February, WGCJTA Chief Financial Officer Ami Gatts had responded to L&I’s questions with 85 pages of data and documentation to support the agency’s rationale for the way it appropriated the money.

On Monday, Gatts told the board that she has made all of the administrative changes that L&I requested.

“The changes are already in place. We just don’t have the approval,” Gatts said.

The board will send Gatts, Greene County Commissioners Blair Zimmerman and Archie Trader, Beaver County Commissioner Joe Spanik and Washington County Commissioner Harlan Shober to Harrisburg to meet with Manderino on April 22.

Gatts noted that Manderino also has accepted an invitation to attend the next WIB meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn, Southpointe, on April 28.

During Monday’s meeting, White also discussed with the CLEO board suggested changes to the WIB’s by-laws, which he said were last revised in 2000. Those changes will be reviewed by the WIB, then sent back to the CLEO board for final adoption.