Brad Anderson, Washington County senior assistant legal counsel, opened a Jan. 13 work session presentation on a forensic investigation into Clean Water Services (CWS) spending and told the Board of Commissioners the county asked an outside firm to examine travel, meals and training expenditures covering three fiscal years plus the first eight months of 2025. Anderson said Maronis/Merrill’s Analytics submitted a draft Nov. 7, the district provided a management response Dec. 1 and the investigator issued a final report Dec. 12. The district’s response dated Jan. 8, 2026 is in the board packet.

The independent analysis identified multiple areas of concern and listed nine recommendations. Jennifer Proger, who led the investigation, told the board the report is detailed and that her team reviewed hundreds or thousands of line items to assess whether expenditures matched district policies in effect at the time. Anderson said the district has updated policies, practices and procedures since the review period and that many recommended changes have already been implemented.

Anderson asked the board to accept the forensic report and to adopt the district’s final management response at the board’s Jan. 27 meeting, and to recognize that the actions called for in Resolution/Order 25‑5 have been met. He summarized the practical changes the district has made, including revised forms and systems to document approvals and reconciliations.

Proger and CWS staff described specific control improvements: a required Travel/Training Request form, a supervisor prioritization and approval step, a post‑event reconciliation workflow, and use of Oracle Management to record approvals and payments. Proger said documentation gaps — for example, receipts labeled only as “business meetings” — made it difficult for auditors to judge the reasonableness or necessity of some expenses.

On that point, board members asked whether the report could determine if spending was reasonable compared with industry practice. The investigator cautioned that the available receipts and documentation often did not give sufficient detail to make a retrospective judgment about reasonableness; she recommended defining “business meal” and tightening controls going forward. CWS leaders said they have removed purchasing cards (P‑cards) from executives, that identified equipment purchases have been returned, and that updated policies should prevent similar problems.

Several board members said the district’s preemptive actions — policy updates and P‑card removals — indicate the board and management already recognized internal control weaknesses. Questions remained about whether reclaimed funds are possible; staff said the absence of prior policy language limits clawback possibilities in many cases but that individual circumstances could be evaluated.

CWS finance and leadership staff told the board they will present budget‑level detail during upcoming budget reviews so commissioners can judge future reasonableness and oversight. Anderson closed by restating the staff request: accept the forensic investigation report and adopt the management response at the Jan. 27 business meeting.

The board did not take a final vote on Jan. 13; staff set the acceptance and adoption as action items for the Jan. 27 meeting.