A state audit of city accounts in a small town south of Grinnell has found over $400,000 worth of improper or unauthorized spending. Diana McVay was city clerk in the town of Searsboro for 22 years. The city council fired her on October 9th, 2006.
The audit reviewed city records covering the last six years she worked for Searsboro. State Auditor Dave Vaudt says a "special investigation" found over $93,000 worth of "improper disbursements" and a number of payments made to the city were never deposited in city accounts.
Over the six-year period the audit reviewed, Vaudt says they concluded McVay made almost $57,000 worth of unauthorized payroll payments to herself and her husband. Another $310,000 worth of city transactions handled by McVay lacked the proper paperwork to show who the money was paid to or just what was being purchased.
The state auditor says it wasn’t possible to review the entire 22 year period McVay was Searsboro’s city clerk because there were only limited records available for the period before July of 2000.
Vaudt’s audit has been forwarded to the Poweshiek County Attorney, the Iowa Attorney General’s office and the Division of Criminal Investigation. The audit is posted on-line on the auditors website .