Orange County comptroller authorized to secure supervisor-of-elections payroll after review finds spending, accounting gaps

The Orange County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday authorized the county comptroller to take steps to ensure the supervisor of elections’ employees are paid for the December 26 payroll after an internal review found the office had exceeded statutory spending limits and left its operating account at risk of overdraft.

Comptroller staff and the county attorney told commissioners they had reviewed allegations that large transfers and the timing of spending had created a cash shortfall in the supervisor’s office. Assistant County Attorney Deborah Nutcher and Assistant Comptroller Wendy Kittleson briefed the board on findings made after a rapid review of bank statements, check registers and contracts.

Kittleson summarized the comptroller’s review: state law (Fla. Stat. § 129.202(1)(a)) directs counties to remit 25% of an approved supervisor of elections’ annual budget in October and then smaller monthly amounts thereafter. Orange County had already advanced the supervisor 50% of the year’s budget through October and November. But the supervisor’s office spent roughly $9.86 million between Oct. 1 and Dec. 12 — about 51% of its annual appropriation — and continued to spend afterward, Kittleson said. That exceeds the statutory 1/12th monthly limitation embedded in a separate Florida provision that protects the incoming supervisor’s operating budget.

Kittleson and Comptroller Diamond reported three principal findings: (1) the supervisor’s office exceeded amounts permitted by statute in the October–December period; (2) the supervisor made a $1.137 million payment on Oct. 3 to the Central Florida Foundation under a contract the review team said was not budgeted and would require a board-approved transfer if it were to be a legitimate use of the appropriated funds; and (3) checks written by the supervisor’s office exceeded the bank account balance on the December statement, creating a potential overdraft. The review team also reported the office had not fully accrued certain liabilities that should have been recorded as FY24 obligations.

The comptroller proposed two immediate steps to reduce risk and ensure employees are paid: (1) pay employee payroll directly to ADP, the outside payroll processor, rather than routing funds through the supervisor’s account; and (2) ask the supervisor to cancel the Central Florida Foundation contract so any undistributed funds can be returned and used to remediate the operating deficit.

After debate, the board voted unanimously to authorize the comptroller to use his discretion to facilitate payment for payroll expenses of the supervisor of elections and to direct the supervisor to cancel the Central Florida Foundation contract and secure return of undistributed grant funds.

County attorneys cautioned the board that the board’s legal authority is limited to appropriations and supervision of county funds and that some issues may be the subject of litigation; a hearing in state court was scheduled for Dec. 18. Commissioners said they wanted the payroll issue solved quickly while the county and new supervisor cooperated to investigate the spending, recover funds where appropriate and reform internal controls.

Comptroller staff said they will work with the incoming supervisor and the supervisor’s payroll vendor to determine the data needed to make an immediate payroll payment and will attempt to make payment directly to the payroll processor if the vendor and supervisor cooperate. The board emphasized that its direction was intended to pay employees, not to enable additional unreviewed spending, and directed staff to report back on recovery and accounting steps taken.