The arrest of former Columbus chief financial officer Milton Rawle on Monday doesn’t close the book on the financial disaster that robbed or wasted $1.6 million of taxpayer money between 2016 and 2018.
Two years after a city audit report revealed discrepancies in the city’s finances, leading to both an independent audit and an investigation by the state auditor’s office, Rawle who resigned under pressure in 2019, was arrested on an embezzlement charge.
State auditor Shad White said Rawle embezzled almost $290,000 between 2016 and 2018. With interest and investigative fees, he owes the city a little more than $350,000. How much of that money will ever be recouped is difficult to determine.
While Rawle will be held accountable for whatever criminal offense that can be proven, the entire culpability cannot be attributed to a single person.
The painful — and expensive — lesson is that accountability must be built into city finances. What we see here is what happens in the absence of proper checks and balances. As we have said before on this page, that lack of checks and balances has been present in the CFO’s office as well as in city council meetings.
Mayor Robert Smith said the city has made changes in light of the investigation. No longer will the CFO handle transactions and sign checks independently. The mayor will approve transfers submitted by the CFO and will co-sign all checks issued by the city with city HR Director Pat Mitchell.
In addition to the regular claims docket provided to the mayor and council, the CFO now must present a monthly financial statement to the mayor and council.
These are good policies and long overdue.
Beyond that, it’s important the council carefully review the claims docket, which historically has almost always been approved by consent and rarely discussed.
White referred to the amount of money taken as “disturbing,” especially compared to the size of the city budget. He also referenced the fact the city exceeded its budget two years in a row and suggested some of those overages could not be accounted for. Neither state not private auditors could account for all of the expenditures. It’s hard to accept that taxpayer funds have simply disappeared into thin air, but it appears that’s what we are faced with.
It’s a hard, expensive lesson that has undermined citizens’ confidence.
Despite the measures now in place, it will take a long time for that confidence to be restored.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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