Officials to mull cost of another audit

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The cost of another audit of the Lawrence County treasurer's office should be known today.
Commissioners were expected to meet today with auditors from Packer Thomas to talk about the scope and costs.
Other public officials and residents have called upon commissioners to have another audit after county Treasurer Gary Felasco was charged Sept. 7 with theft, embezzlement and other charges.
An audit covering October 2003 to December 2003 revealed that more than $40,000 was missing from the treasurer's office.
At a preliminary hearing last week, a treasurer's office employee testified Felasco used taxpayer dollars to pay his own expenses including using office money to buy a van, pay his television cable bill and fund his personal bank account when it was overdrawn.
Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino urged commissioners at their Tuesday meeting to approve another audit.
Quotable
"After the preliminary hearing it's even more clear that it needs to be done," he said, noting that testimony revealed money for the van, cable payments and other items was taken outside the three-month window of the last audit.
"There needs to be some determination of how much money was actually taken," Mangino added.
The first audit cost the county about $40,000. Mangino said auditors have indicated a second audit will cost less because they now know where to search.
The district attorney's office has offered $2,500 from its budget to help pay for the expanded audit, Mangino said.
cioffi@vindy.com