Taxpayers in every corner of the state will be picking up portion of the $1.3 million bill due to the U.S. Department of Labor for funds misspent by a central Iowa job-training program. The state reached the deal with the eight counties that govern CIETC, the Des Moines based agency involved in a payroll scandal.
Iowa Attorney General’s office spokesperson Bob Brammer says the settlement, if approved by all parties, would cancel a hearing before an administrative law judge scheduled for February. Brammer says the settlement calls for the state paying $800,000 and the eight county governments paying $500,000. The Attorney General’s office will also work to recover money from the individuals accused of misspending the CIETC funds.
Brammer says the recovered money could come via restitution from the defendents, IPERS benefits that were overpaid, and from CIETC’s insurance company. The state is involved in the federal government repayment plan because Iowa Workforce Development had spending oversight of CIETC.
"The federal money came through the state," Brammer says, "it was a CIETC operation, but it was funded through Workforce Development." The federal reimbursement plan must still be approved by the Des Moines City Council and the boards of supervisors in Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Polk, Story, and Warren Counties.