People have a right to a functioning government that serves the interests of the public and is not run by insiders behind closed doors.
Fayette County has seen increased taxes, growing debt, questions regarding contract awards, and serious allegations about organizations that receive taxpayer dollars.
Taxpayers deserve more than assurances that “everything is OK.” They deserve proof.
As your County Commissioner, I will advocate for an independent forensic audit of the county government conducted by an outside firm with no connection to the people, businesses, organizations, or elected officials under review.
I plan to “follow the money,” find out where we are wasting money, examine contracts, improve our financial controls and provide you, the taxpayer, with a clear understanding of how your money is being used.
A normal annual financial audit can serve a very important purpose. It was never intended to be used for every type of question.
If there are serious concerns about:
I think we need to go beyond the surface. I would like an independent forensic review to look into each of these areas.
An independent forensic review should answer some basic questions:
If everything is being done correctly, an independent review should prove this. If not, we need to find out.
We have already found out in Pennsylvania how critical it can be when a complex financial problem requires further investigation.
In 2023, the City of DuBois signed a contract with Boyer & Ritter for a forensic audit at a cost of $125,000.
However, DuBois did not put the total cost of the audit solely on the backs of its taxpayers.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) gave the City of DuBois $123,750 specifically to pay for the independent forensic audit.
This amounted to about 99% of the total cost of the audit. This is a very good example for Fayette County. If DuBois was able to secure outside funding from the Commonwealth to help cover the cost of conducting a forensic audit of their operations, then Fayette County should pursue similar funding opportunities from the Commonwealth prior to passing all of the costs of the audit onto the shoulders of the county’s taxpayers.
Pennsylvania has a Strategic Management Planning Program (SMPP) that provides matching grants to qualifying local governmental units up to $200,000 to assist them in implementing financial management systems. Guidance issued by DCED clearly states that studies and audits related to improving local government management practices and financial administration are eligible uses of SMPP funds.
All counties are considered eligible applicants. Under normal operating conditions, the SMPP will typically fund up to 50% of the total cost of a project; however, DCED has indicated that there are situations where the required level of local participation may be decreased. The SMPP is an ongoing program. On August 27, 2026, DCED announced additional rounds of SMPP awards. These awards will provide funding for various types of projects such as those related to financial, operational, technological, and managerial improvements throughout Pennsylvania.
Therefore, my initial action would not be giving the taxpayers of Fayette County a bill for $200,000. My initial action would be seeking out alternative sources of funding.
I believe a realistic budget estimate for an initial planning phase of a comprehensive forensic and operational review of Fayette County would be somewhere in the range of $150,000 – $250,000 depending upon how extensive the review becomes and what is discovered by the auditors.
I will not authorize an “open-ended” investigation. I would require competitive bidding on this project and set a specific maximum cost that cannot exceed without prior authorization from the Commissioners.
The auditing firm must seek prior authorization from the Commissioners if they wish to significantly expand their investigation.
The review should occur in three distinct phases.
This helps keep the investigation focused. I want to avoid having taxpayers pay an accounting firm hundreds of dollars per hour to analyze transactions that have minimal risk exposure while many other important questions go unanswered.
I believe the forensic audit should specifically examine Fayette County’s financial relationship with Fay-Penn Economic Development Council and other outside organizations that receive, administer, or benefit from public money.
Fay-Penn serves an important economic-development role in Fayette County, and Fayette County maintains an official commissioner representative on its board. But serious allegations have also been raised involving the organization.
A former Fay-Penn finance director filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit alleging conflicts of interest, preferential treatment involving loans, and other misconduct. Those allegations have not been proven in court, and allegations should never be treated as guilt. But when an organization handles substantial amounts of public money and serious questions have been raised,
I believe taxpayers deserve an independent examination.
I want to know:
If everything was handled properly, then an independent review should help establish that.
If problems exist, we need to correct them.
I also think that a third-party auditor should examine county contract awards that are being questioned for potential connections between the vendor and the elected official(s) who approved the award.
Just because a person or company has made a donation to a political campaign doesn’t mean a county contract was awarded improperly.
However, taxpayers have the right to know if contracts with political contributors or companies that have political connections were awarded fairly.
The audit will need to determine if:
I don’t care whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, donor, friend, supporter, or political opponent.
The rules are the same.
Taxpayer funds are used to pay for county contracts.
These contracts should never be used as a reward for politics.
I am not recommending a complete review (an audit) of these finances based on my belief that someone has committed wrong-doing.
That is not how a neutral review process should operate.
I would like experienced professionals to follow all financial transactions and activities no matter where those transactions may go. \
Accountability is what I am asking for.
As Commissioner, I would like to see that taxpayers have an easier time getting information regarding:
Information from government should be available for public viewing.
Residents should not have to rely on their political connections in order to find out what their local county government has been up to.
Public Office Should Never Require Secret Loyalty
As an elected official, I believe signing a nondisclosure agreement to hide public business from the people is wrong.
If I am acting on behalf of Fayette County, my duty is to the taxpayers, not to a private company, developer, contractor, consultant, or political insider asking me to keep public matters secret.
I do not expect Fayette County residents to simply follow county government blindly.
Government needs to earn the trust of its citizens. The taxpayer has every right to ask how their money is spent
Therefore, I will advocate for a forensic audit of the county.