Auditor General DePasquale Says Steelton Borough’s Failure to Maintain Meeting Minutes Highlights Need for Transparency
Auditor General DePasquale Says Steelton Borough’s Failure to Maintain Meeting Minutes Highlights Need for Transparency
Says poorly-maintained record-keeping could lead to pension plan problems
HARRISBURG (Aug. 4, 2015) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today released audit reports of Steelton Borough’s police and non-uniformed pension plans that show that the municipality failed to maintain adequate minutes of borough council meetings between January 2013 and December 2014.
“Transparency of government, be it state or local, is essential for public trust and confidence,” DePasquale said. “The Steelton audits trouble me because there was a clear shortage of transparency on the part of municipal officials.”
As part of the Sunshine Act, every portion of every meeting is supposed to be made available to the public. Steelton’s failure to maintain borough council meeting minutes could potentially lead to errors or improprieties in pension plan policies.
“This is reminiscent of the troubles in Scranton: Municipal leaders should learn from those mistakes, where failure to keep records has put that city in a very precarious pension situation. We don’t want to see Steelton follow suit.”
Steelton maintained its police pension plan at a 97-percent funded ratio; however its non-uniformed plan hovers at 78.4 percent, a drop of nearly 10-percent since 2009.
“Having a well-funded police pension plan doesn’t give the borough license to ignore other important aspects of its governance,” DePasquale said. “I remind Steelton leaders that monetary responsibility is no excuse for procedural irresponsibility, and frankly I find their lack of transparency disturbing.”
The Steelton Borough audit reports are available online at:
• Steelton Borough Police Pension Plan
• Steelton Borough Non-Uniformed Pension Plan
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