Rob Sand
A special investigation by the state auditor’s office indicates the office manager for a southern Iowa landfill failed to deposit tens of thousands of dollars in landfill fees.
Jennifer Nickell was the office manager for the Solid Waste Management Commission for Wayne, Ringgold and Decatur Counties. According to a letter from the state auditor’s office, Nickell admitted to the commission she had taken “cash collections for personal use” and resigned rather than be fired in the middle of last year.
Auditors reviewed four years of records related to the fees charged for dropping off trash at the landfill that’s near Grand River and identified nearly $62,000 in cash hadn’t been deposited in the commission’s bank accounts. The report indicates cash was withheld from over 90 percent of the deposits made during Nickell’s tenure.
The special investigation by the state auditor’s office has been turned over to state and local authorities.