Ansonia Aldermen voted to pay for a forensic audit of the city’s tax office but it’s not guaranteed the audit will actually happen.
They said the ultimate decision on the investigation’s next step is in the hands of state prosecutors.
Officials revealed little else Tuesday in the way of new information about the probe.
The city announced Jan. 3 that its tax collector, Tammy Blackwell, had been placed on paid leave pending a police investigation requested by the mayor’s office.
Blackwell — who started working for the city in 1990 and currently makes about $60,000 per year — has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The Valley Indy reached out to Blackwell via phone and email last week.
City officials didn’t offer many details about what prompted the investigation, but said it related to $700 that was “unaccounted for” for some period of time last month.
The city’s Aldermen discussed the matter in executive session for about a half-hour Tuesday with Ansonia Police Lt. Wayne Williams.
The city’s corporation counsel, John Marini, said the discussion was allowed by the state’s Freedom of Information Act because the law lets public agencies exclude the public to discuss security matters and pending litigation.
The law also allows public agencies to discuss specific employees behind closed doors — provided the employee is given the chance to require the discussion be public. Marini said the city did not reach out to Blackwell regarding Tuesday’s executive session.
In actually voting to go into executive session, none of the Aldermen offered the specific reasons they were excluding the public.
After the secret discussion, the Aldermen voted unanimously to “authorize payment for a forensic audit at the recommendation of the state’s attorney’s office.”
But officials said there might not be an audit — that decision will be made by state prosecutors.
“It would be at the recommendation of the state’s attorney if it’s necessary,” Marini said. “The state’s attorney has forensic auditors, but they’re limited in their capacity. So if there is a need to hire an outside auditing firm, the city will have to step forward and pay for it.”
He said the city doesn’t know how much the audit might cost or what its scope could be — and that the city can’t offer the public any more details about why its tax collector is on paid leave because doing so “could compromise the investigation.”
“The investigation is to make sure we know everything that occurred,” Marini said. “I can’t comment on the progress of the investigation except to say that we’re investigating to make sure we know.”
The city has paid for a forensic audit recently, when questions were raised about what was happening with money going into the town clerk’s office. That audit cost about $15,000.
The tax office is currently being run by Blackwell’s assistant, Christine Scott.
The Valley Indy submitted a Freedom of Information request Tuesday seeking Blackwell’s personnel file. Marini said city officials were in the process of preparing it.
