The Ansonia tax collector is on paid leave pending a police investigation requested by the city mayor’s office.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said Tammy Blackwell was placed on leave Tuesday, Jan. 3.
The Valley Indy left a message on Blackwell’s publicly-listed phone number Tuesday evening, and reached out for comment via Facebook messenger.
Details of the investigation have not been made public.
It is important to note that Blackwell has not been accused of doing anything wrong.
In addition, Marini said that “no money is missing or unaccounted for at this point.”
Ansonia Police Lt. Patrick Lynch, the department’s spokesman, issued a short press release Tuesday afternoon acknowledging an investigation is underway.
According to the statement, “Mayor David Cassetti requested the Ansonia Police Department’s assistance regarding possible irregularities in the Ansonia Tax Office.The Police Department has begun its investigation and will send out media updates as new information becomes available.”
According to Marini, the mayor’s office called police “given that it involves irregularities in accounting for taxpayer money.”
“We can report that no money is missing or unaccounted for at this point, but any financial irregularities demand scrutiny, and in this case the mayor would like a thorough independent review,” Marini said in an email.
But $700 was “unaccounted for” when the matter came to the city’s attention Wednesday, Dec. 28, Marini alleged.
The emphasis was placed by The Valley Indy.
“Though the funds are now accounted for, the mayor has decided to move forward with an investigation. The administration believes you can never be too careful when it comes to taxpayer money,” Marini said.
Blackwell was contacted by city officials over the weekend, Marini said.
Blackwell has been the city’s tax collector since 2012. Previously she was assistant tax collector under Bridget Bostic.
Bostic resigned after a Valley Indy investigation revealed she was giving friends, a relative, and city officials receipts for paying car taxes that had not been paid.
It was later revealed that Bostic was secretly allowed to reverse her resignation and retire from Ansonia’s employment.
An internal review of tax office procedures after the Valley Indy story showed that both Bostic and Blackwell processed their own taxes.
The report concluded the practice was ripe for abuse and possibly unethical.
But many of the recommendations from the report had not been adopted a year after the tax collector resigned.
Click here for a previous story on the old report, including a copy of the report.
The news of Blackwell’s leave was first posted on the Valley Indy’s Facebook page Tuesday:
