Manderson audit case dismissed

Mayor pro tem alleges lack of funds could force the town to go unincorporated

The Town of Manderson seems to have dodged repercussions following a Department of Criminal Investigation examination of their fiscal year 2022 audit. Officials at a joint Management Audit Committee hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 21 reported that DCI found “nothing further to go with” and has closed the investigation. 

“A comprehensive investigation was conducted by DCI into this matter and their reports were provided to me,” Big Horn County Attorney Marcia Bean said in a prepared statement to the Standard. “After receiving and reviewing the reports, I visited with the DCI investigator and unfortunately, based upon the evidence, it was determined and agreed that at this time, the State would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed.  The State and DCI will of course re-evaluate this should additional evidence become known.”

The State of Wyoming Department of Audit initially alleged the town violated 16 state and federal regulations in their FY 2022 audit. The amount submitted for the Census was underreported by $276,695 for cash, $428,925 for revenue and $313,830 for expenditures compared to bank confirmations and the general ledger. The town clerk position changed hands many times over the period of the audit, including a stint where then-mayor Dennis Chambers allegedly appointed his daughter-in-law Deb Chambers to the position without council approval. 

Town of Manderson officials were subpoenaed this summer to testify in front of the committee alongside representatives from Bear River and Riverton Recreation District 25. Manderson Mayor Rod Patrick and councilmember Tim Patrick spoke before the legislature last week. 

Tim was the primary speaker, as he has reportedly been serving as mayor pro tem following his brother Rod’s recent health issues. 

“I hate to keep saying it’s the last administration, but that’s exactly where this has come from,” Tim said. 

Tim shared that over the last 50 years, the Patrick family has served in mayor and council positions for the Town of Manderson; however, they were not in office during the audit period. He called the committee’s subpoena
unprecedented and disheartening. 

“We welcome oversight and are eager to share the progress we’ve made, but we respectively ask the legislature recognize the difference between those who created this problem and those of us who are working to correct this problem, and believe me, it’s been a job in progress,” Tim said. 

The response from the committee was mild. 

“We get a list of noncompliance, and that list seems to be the same every year and every year, so I think that’s what the subpoena level ended up being,” said committee chair Rep. Christopher Knapp, R – Campbell County. He explained that the subpoena was not meant to be a punishment. 

Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams, R – Park County, took the hardest line of questioning, calling the Town of Manderson audit the “most extreme” of the cases presented. She asked about missing W-2s and I-9s for town workers. Town officials responsible for money were also not bonded during the time of the audit. 

 Tim explained that S&A Bookkeeping of Worland had been hired to handle all the town’s accounting moving forward, as well as correct the past four years of mistakes. In his explanation, he turned the problem on its head, noting that a lack of state funding has made the issue of solving the Town of Manderson’s audit troubles all the more difficult. 

“We’re paying $2,500 a month for this bookkeeper … we’re going to be broke in about a year paying her,” Tim said. “But I think if we don’t get something straightened out on this funding for these small towns, you’re going to see a lot of towns like Manderson be forced to go unincorporated because the money is just not there. I mean, we’ve got no way other than bake sales and white elephant deals to put any money in our coffers … and I’ll tell you, we lose these small towns, we’ve lost Wyoming.”

Tim also noted that Manderson has not received state funding in the past due to noncompliance. The town has struggled to apply for grants to correct their water infrastructure as there is no funding available to support the required cost split. 

There is currently no timeline on the complete correction of Manderson’s bookkeeping. Department of Audit officials reported that the Town has been checking in monthly with updates and has remained compliant in their reporting.