In a recent audit, county auditor Kevin Robinson found a county commissioner’s recent comments accusing the Platte County Health Department of seeking to profit off the COVID-19 pandemic to be groundless.
Robinson released a statement regarding his audit of the Platte County Health Department after the most recent meeting of the Platte County Commission on Monday, March 20.
His audit was prompted by district commissioner Dagmar Wood’s statements at recent commission meetings, where she stated that the Platte County Health Department sought to profit off the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Based on a statement in commission session of attempts of profiteering, an audit examining the health department’s request was appropriate to reconfirm all requests were within the guidelines of the federal CARES Act, state’s CRF program, and the county’s public sector grant program,” Robinson said in the statement. “What supported the allocations of profiteering and if found to be accurate, the health department would have to refund the CARES Act grant funding.
“Reimbursed requests in early 2021 were reviewed by the auditor’s office and confirmed to be compliant and nothing supports the claim of profiteering,” Robinson said.
According to the release, the documents the Health Department provided to support the grant requests are public record.
“Review of the original grant request confirmed the commission’s denial of two of the labor reimbursement requests totaling over $518,000,” Robinson said. “The requests were allowable requests under the grant program allowable expenditures guidance of substantially changed job duties in response to COVID-19 or mitigation of the pandemic.”
The labor reimbursement request denials occurred prior to the commission’s formal approval of the health department’s grant application in late December 2020. Supporting documents were received by the auditor’s office in early 2021. Of the approved grant estimates for reimbursement, the health department received the first payment on March 3, 2021 for $227,969.01, $80,197.46 less than the $308,166.47 grant award. Not all items qualified for reimbursement under the grant program’s guidelines. Of the documentation reviewed, Robinson found nothing to support the claim of profiteering.
Additionally, Robinson questioned, both in the release and at the Monday public administrative session, the commission’s decision to remove his audit report from that day’s consent agenda.
“Beginning in 2011, the consent agenda has been my method of making public an audit report,” Robinson said. “This report is the first in 12 years of over 150 publications the commission has pulled from their meeting agenda. Going forward, upon completion the audit report will be published on the county’s website on the auditor’s office page, and publication notice sent.”