More Kutztown Borough Council Finances

More Borough Council Finances 2-5-08

Upon reviewing the structure of the Committees of the Borough I discovered that there are six committees and they are:

Community Development Committee

Public Safety Committee

Public Works committee

Personnel Committee

Water and Wastewater Committee

Finance, Electric and Telecommunications Committee

I noticed Telecommunications, a business venture that loses about $1 million a year, is conveniently tucked in between Finance and Electric in one committee. Finance is the General Fund and Electric is the Electric Fund and between them they generate and control almost all of the revenue and funds that can be transferred to all departments of the Borough without restrictions. Telecommunications (Hometown Utilicom) is grouped with Finance and Electric to allow Borough Manager\Treasurer Vettraino to intermingle revenue and funds of the three departments and illegally conceal the finances of Hometown Utilicom. This coupled with the item on the Consent Agenda which usually reads “move funds from any fund or agency to any other fund or agency to pay the monthly bills” allows Mr. Vettraino to transfer funds secretly without making them public. These illegal transfers and fund movements are all done under the direction and the approval of the Borough Council, Mayor Sandra Green, ITD Caruso and Borough Solicitors Dietrich and Mooney and auditors Long & Barrell.

To complete the scheme and keep the finances of Hometown Utilicom a secret, there are no 2006 and 2007 Budgets available at the Borough Hall.