A cash register and computer will be soon installed at the counter where Oxford residents pay their taxes in Town Hall.
It’s a simple move to make the tax collection process more transparent: Residents will now see the tax collector count their money and complete the transaction.
That process previously took place at the tax collector’s desk in the back of the office.
It’s one of several changes the town has made since former Tax Collector Karen Guillet was accused of stealing more than $670,000 from the town’s tax collection coffers.
After Guillet’s arrest Tuesday in connection to the allegations, the new policy in town is: Trust, but verify.
“The thing is, what all towns have to be aware of and conscience of is complacency,” First Selectman George Temple said Wednesday at a press conference at Oxford Town Hall.
The press conference was called to respond to Guillet’s arrest earlier that day. Temple appeared with newly elected tax collector Cayenne Spremullo.
Temple described Oxford as a close-knit community, with a sense of trusting and “neighborliness.”
But, Temple said, improvements and safeguards are still needed. The town has been working to improve its tax collection policies since allegations of theft came to the surface about two years ago.
“I certainly trust Cayenne,” Temple said of the new tax collector. “But I’m going to verify that she’s doing the right thing.”
Checks and Balances
Immediately after the allegations came forward, the town set up a committee to review tax collection policies in town.
The town started monitoring any new transactions and deposits as well, according to former First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers.
In June 2011, Oxford Board of Selectmen approved a new credit card payment system, which would cut down on cash payments and give another layer of record to the tax collection.
On Wednesday, Temple announced the new cash register.
More Eyes
Temple also said he would ask the town’s part-time assistant treasurer to review the tax collection records, to add another pair of eyes to the mix.
The town’s finance director Jim Hliva already reviews the tax collection records.
“The only way something go wrong (now) is with collusion,” Hliva said Wednesday.
To add to the eyes watching the tax collector’s office, the town recently installed new camera equipment. Seven cameras watch the town clerk’s office, the town’s records vault and the tax collector’s office.
Town Clerk Margaret West can see all the rooms from a control panel in her office.
West said she wanted to install the cameras before the tax collector investigation began, just to help keep an eye on all the important areas of town hall.
“My eyes can’t be everywhere at once,” West said Wednesday.
The system cost just under $3,000, West said, and was paid for through the clerk’s Community Investment Fund.
Temple said these measures, along with the recommendations of former First Selectman Mary Anny Drayton-Rogers, will “restore integrity” to the tax collection in Oxford.
“We are, and have taken steps, to ensure that it will be a lot harder, if it ever happens again,” Temple said. “I’m confident in Cayenne’s ability. I’m confident in the concern of other people in town. And I believe that it’s going to be highly unlikely that this ever happens again.”
