West Haven Audit’s Stunning Findings: 79% of COVID Relief Funds Misspent.

Independent audits conclude that West Haven government is still a mess. The report provided by accounting firm CohnReznick to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) will raise more questions about the state budget’s office ability to oversee programs under its jurisdiction.

Of the $1.136,085 in Covid Relief Funds (CRF) expenditures submitted by the City administration to CohnReznick for review, only $243,198 met federal government criteria for CRF spending. The audit finds $892,887 was spent outside the rules. Auditors found that West Haven “did not have sufficient controls and safeguards to ensure the proper accounting and reporting of CRF” The implications of the findings extend beyond the CRF opening. “The lack of internal controls, policies and procedures and other weaknesses identified are not restricted to the CRF expenditures, but impact the overall financial operations and management of the City.”

The report examined expenditures beyond those identified in the federal criminal investigation and indictment of former state Representative Michael DiMassa.

The report is an indictment of OPM’s five years of overseeing West Haven’s parlous finances. The City continues to provide inadequate controls over the use of checks. It fails to track properly overtime or compensatory payments for some employees. “in many cases, the reporting is reporting is performed directly by the employee,” auditors found.

West Haven neglects in many instances to obtain financial interest disclosures from entities doing business with it. There are no “formal or written accounting and reporting policies and procedures….”

The report notes that $5,000 paid to state Representative Kara Rochelle for “fire station consulting…does not meet CRF expenditure requirements.” Nor does $46,080 to summer sports camps.

City Council member Robert Bruneau is the principal in four businesses that did business with West Haven. Auditors found payments to those companies “and other members of Mr. Bruneau’s family amounted to approximately $170,000” in both CRF and non-CRF funds.

The report also casts a searing light on Mayor Nancy Rossi’s failure to impose basic controls and procedure on West Haven’s finances. Rossi, who was narrowly re-elected in November, is an accountant by training, though nothing she has done as mayor would confirm that.

The audit does not include funds West Haven received under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Published April 1, 2022.