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Audit says Cache County violated spending policies, conflict laws

Posted at 5:38 PM, Dec 22, 2023
and last updated 2023-12-22 19:38:16-05

SALT LAKE CITY — Officeholders in Cache County moved money without proper authorization, violated conflict of interest laws and interfered with auditors examining it all, a new report says.

The audit, released earlier this month, examined financial dealings and controls in the county and delved into the actions of both elected and appointed department heads. Much of the report discusses David Zook, the county executive – an elected office much like a mayor.

Auditors said county employees were instructed to provide Zook with details of their conversations with investigators.

“This behavior,” auditors wrote, “in our opinion, represents inappropriate interference and worse creates a perception of a need to adhere to some sort of loyalty.”

Zook was also singled out for his spending. In one example from 2021, Zook attended the American Legislative Exchange Council conference at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. The $263 a night rate at the hotel exceeded spending limits.

In another instance, Zook asked $500 be moved to his budget to reimburse someone in his office for travel expenses. The auditors noted the unusually round figure and a lack of documentation explaining the reasons for the reimbursement, but made clear the real problem with both examples was that Zook was approving his own expenses.

“There's definitely some things in that audit that are concerning,” said Paul Borup, who left the Cache County Council at the end of 2022.

While on the council, Borup told FOX 13 News, he and his colleagues tried asking questions about money handling, but met resistance from other officeholders and county personnel.

“When you get pushed back on trying to resolve those things,” Borup said, “that's when we decided to do the external audit.”

Auditors also revealed the county finance director left his job after other investigations found “inappropriate” conduct. The audit doesn’t elaborate, though a state investigation earlier this year said Cache County was mismanaging grant money and paying the former county attorney and his deputy for expenses that they were also being paid for privately.

The auditors also found Cache County Recorder Devron Andersen, who resigned in August, had a surveying business he did not disclose to the county. That business surveyed plats that were then recorded by Andersen’s office, auditors said.

That arrangement violates conflict of interest statutes, the auditors said. Their report also shows an invoice from January where Cache County paid $615 for attendance at a surveyors conference. The invoice shows the payment was on behalf of Andersen’s surveying firm.

Neither Andersen nor Zook returned messages seeking comment.

Much of the report describes how department leaders – sometimes with questionable legal advice from the county attorney – moved money around departments without proper authorization from the Cache County Council, which sets the budget.

In one example, Zook ran out of money to pay a lobbyist; he had the county attorney’s office pay.

Borup gives the current Cache County Council credit for already making changes to county code that address problems found in the audit.

“We write laws down for a reason so that people don't just get to do whatever they want to do,” Borup said. “And as you'll see in that audit, a lot of those were not being followed.”

Auditors also wrote that they found “red flags” indicating other instances of financial improprieties that need further investigation as well as accusations of fraud that no one in county government investigated.

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