Several state officials including Gov. Jack Markell (D-Delaware) and Treasurer Chip Flowers (D) skirted rules for documenting and paying for out-of-state travel expenses according to a new report.
Led by State Auditor Tom Wagner’s Office, the investigation looked at Flowers’s recent business trips to Alaska and Seattle and found he fully reimbursed the state, but didn’t submit the proper travel forms to state human resources officials.
Markell also didn’t fill out required documents and the audit found that the governor upgraded travel seats to ‘preferred’ or ‘choice’ options nine times costing an extra $321.
About one-third of that was reimbursed by the National Governor’s Association for events he attended.
It also said Markell shouldn’t have spent state money on taffy for Delaware National Guard troops deployed to Afghanistan, which he claimed was a form of employee recognition.
The report also outlined $6,399 in personal charges made by former Deputy Treasurer Erika Benner’s on her state credit card between 2011 and 2013 that she eventually repaid.
Some of that money went to tickets for a New England Patriots NFL game and a private car service. She also reported fraudulent charges on her state-issued card three times in two years.
The Auditor’s Office found the Treasury staff refused to authorize those credit payments without documentation, something Flowers touted in a short press conference.
“The report supports the Treasury’s original position and clears all doubt about my spending and the actions taken to resolve this issue,” said Flowers.
But there’s a $4,057.42 discrepancy between the auditor’s investigation and a report issued by the treasury last October regarding Benner’s conduct.
Flowers’s office identified $2,341.58 in inappropriate charges, but says they found several other charges they couldn’t verify as business-related at that time. Flowers says that makes up for the discrepancy, but Delaware Public Media wasn’t able to immediately independently verify that information.
The audit linked the treasury’s report as a reference, but Kathleen Davies, Chief Administrative Auditor, says she doesn’t know where the discrepancy came from.
“Honestly, I don’t know what went behind what the treasurer did in his report,” said Davies.
“We linked to the report to make reference to it so you have it available and to also demonstrate what they did. You know, it’s just what they did and made public report of.”
Despite holding off on approving Benner’s charges, Wagner’s report says treasury staff never notified Flowers of the misconduct until after he was approached by Finance Secretary Tom Cook in April 2013.
The latest audit also delved into Markell’s cabinet.
Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt held a two-day Rehoboth Beach retreat for some staff members and paid $2,142 in hotel costs – something not allowed for in-state functions.
The report says DelDOT Administration warned Bhatt about the rules and suggested moving it to Ocean City, Maryland instead.
DelDOT officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Wagner says the crux of the problem stems from a poor understanding of the state’s travel policy, which he says should be simplified.
“Most people didn’t realize that it was really required and, to me, that and the backup documentation is the important information to have,” said Wagner.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Markell said, “Given the timing of this inspection, the extensive review of issues like taffy, and the selective focus on the Governor and DelDOT, it is not hard to imagine that this review may have been motivated more by politics than by a good-faith desire to improve state travel policies.”
Markell later echoed those words, saying, “On the one hand, he’s saying the system’s overly bureaucratic and he’s complaining at the same time that we didn’t fill out enough forms.”
The governor also says he personally reimbursed the state $1,000 in April 2013 and $500 this February.
“Some of it was in connection with Woodburn, really just to make sure that personal expenses were not borne by the state,” said Markell.
Last year, Flowers also cut the state a check for hundreds of dollars relating to out-of-state trips, which he said were legitimate business expenses. During a press conference announcing the move in November, he said the money was “clearly worth paying to clear the integrity of this office.”
Both Flowers and Wagner, the lone statewide elected Republican, are up for re-election this year.