Pocono News Section

Luzerne Co. Officials Have Until Friday to Turn in Receipts

Luzerne Co. Officials Have Until Friday to Turn in Receipts - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Tuesday, Dec 4, 2007 @06:00pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- It's been described as free wheeling spending - spending taxpayer money - some $42,000 that included expensive Manhattan dinners and a night at a Vegas strip club.

The Luzerne County Courthouse, the seat of county government, has been all about debit card abuse. Now it’s up to County Controller Maryanne Petrilla to make it right, if she can. Petrilla, who is also the commissioner-elect, has ordered all county department heads who used debit cards to come with receipts.

"The Bureau of Elections Chief Len Piazza has submitted all his receipts to me. I'm in process of reviewing all of them to make sure charges are all legitimate and in compliance with our policies of reimbursement," says Petrilla.

Petrilla says all other department heads are researching their records but admit tracking down receipts from out of town businesses is proving to be a major challenge.

Petrilla will be a County Commissioner in January. She says this spending fiasco can never be allowed to happen again. "We need to work with human resources to address all of these policies, come up with an agreement with row offices. Right now they do what they want. We have to come up with a unified county policy that everyone must follow," says Petrilla.

Debit card reimbursement comes out of the General Fund. The Controller never sees those expenses. Petrilla says that has to change.

Department managers have until Friday to come up with receipts for legitimate purchases. And Luzerne County D.A. Dave Lupas has asked the State Attorney General to investigate.