Controller: Davis County donation to scholarship foundation was authorized; hotline referrals made

Scott Park, Davis County controller, presented a limited review of four fraud/ethics hotline submissions at the Feb. 2 Audit Committee meeting. He said one submission questioned a donation to the Utah Scholarship Foundation (doing business as Miss Davis County). Park reported he reviewed the budget and applicable statute and confirmed the donation was authorized in an open meeting on Dec. 16. "My conclusion was a donation was paid, was authorized by the commission appropriately in the public meeting, it was paid within a legally approved budget and therefore there's no additional work that needs to be done on it," Park said.

Park described other hotline referrals: a concern related to a foster care license was forwarded to the state auditor, an allegation of contractor fraud was referred to the county attorney and Caseville City Police, and an unintelligible harassment complaint that contained no actionable details was closed. Park said the county stopped using its prior vendor Lighthouse and moved the hotline to an internal form built by IT; he estimated the internal solution costs about $3,500 a year and has yielded more actionable submissions.

Tracy Probert, public member, defended his vote in the commission meeting approving the donation. Probert said the pageant is a scholarship program that draws community participation and provides leadership opportunities; referencing the funding he said, "I will not apologize for that vote. I support it 100%." Park and others said they would publish limited-review results on the county website to show responsiveness.

Park also described the limited-review process: confirm the transaction, check budget authority, and review statute to determine whether further audit work is required. He said the county's micro audits can be completed quickly when appropriate and that the committee will continue to bring limited reviews forward for transparency.