FILE
But former town clerk Madeline Bottone did not invent the parameters she was working within, so the city hopes to avoid a costly legal battle over the ownership of a bank account containing nearly $300,000 she controlled when she left office.
The city’s corporation counsel said Monday the city is in talks with Bottone to reach an “equitable” settlement over the bank account, the records of which were examined by an auditor for 90 days.
Background
For years, Ansonia allowed its town clerk to take a percentage from the fees collected from the public, in addition to being paid a flat salary.
In December Aldermen, at the request of new Mayor David Cassetti, restructured the office to pay a flat salary of $72,000 to the clerk.
But under the old system, Bottone amassed about $300,000 in a bank account, the existence of which wasn’t known about when Cassetti and city Republicans took over City Hall after the November election. Shortly after taking office, the mayor announced he was putting the bank account “under examination.”
A city labor attorney told Aldermen that Bottone viewed the account as her retirement fund.
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No one has accused, or even implied, that Bottone, who retired last year after eight terms in office, or anyone in her office did anything wrong under the way the pay system was set up.
But the new administration complained the setup lacked accountability, as demonstrated by the fact the new administration could not say for sure how much money was in the account.
In January, Aldermen retained an accounting firm to perform a forensic audit of the account going back 14 years.
The Audit
That audit was delivered to the city in April.
In the 12-page document Richard Finkel, a partner at West Hartford-based BlumShapiro, concluded Bottone used the account to pay a total of $1,343,631 to herself and assistant town clerks from 1999 to 2013.
During that time period Bottone took home pay totaling $1,114,776, or an average of $74,318.40 per year, the audit says.
Of that total, $352,883 was in the form of a “base salary,” with the rest — $761,893 — coming from fees paid to the office.
In total, between 1999 and 2013, $4,537,042 was deposited into the account, and $4,259,367 was disbursed from it.
Bottone also withdrew $109,244 from the account at some point — the audit doesn’t say when — that she donated to the city for the purchase of new computers.
As of Dec. 31, 2013, there was a total of $277,676 left in the account.
The audit, and a separate opinion authored by the city’s corporation counsel, concluded the pay system under which the clerk’s office operated for years contradicted state laws and the city’s own charter.
But the audit shows the account was being used the way Bottone described.
“Based on the analysis performed, other than funds transferred to the city’s payroll account and the $109,244 transferred to the city for the purchase of computers, no transactions in the City Clerk Bank Account appeared to be outside the normal course of business,” Finkel wrote in the audit report delivered to the city.
Article continues after the document.
Though Bottone, through a third party, informed the city of her “intention to litigate” the matter earlier this year, John Marini, Ansonia’s corporation counsel, said Monday (May 12) that the city hopes to avoid a lawsuit.
“We’ve been in talks about the best way to resolve it with Madeline but there’s been no resolution yet,” he said. “I think the best way is obviously to see if there’s a possibility for an informal resolution or settlement.”
Any settlement would have to be publicly approved by the Board of Aldermen, he noted.
The audit report was an item on the agenda for Tuesday’s (May 12) meeting of the city’s Aldermen, but they did not discuss the matter beyond receiving a brief explanation from Marini.
Article continues after video of Marini speaking to Aldermen Tuesday.
Marini said Monday he couldn’t be more specific about the settlement talks to decide what happens to the $277,676.
“Obviously we’re in the process of trying to see if there is a common ground here,” he said. “But at the end of the day we have to bring that to the Board of Aldermen.”
Marini authored a six-page legal opinion on the issue. It notes that reports on how the money was distributed from the account were never delivered to Aldermen.
But if the system the city formerly had in place was so grossly illegal, why are officials willing to settle?
Marini said the city is trying to be “equitable” with Bottone.
“No one benefits from litigation,” Marini said. “I think the best way is obviously to see if there’s a possibility of an informal resolution or settlement.”
Marini’s opinion is below.
