Both Custer County and Litchfield were among eight units of local government in the state recently issued audit letters by State Auditor Mike Foley, documenting alleged financial improprieties by key personnel at those entities.
“There appears to be a disturbing uptick in improper financial practices in local government across the state. When evidence of potential wrongdoing comes to my attention, we prioritize the case,” said Foley.
He continued by saying “Unfortunately, these more recent eight examples of both accounting incompetence and apparent financial malfeasance at political subdivisions are not unusual. Based upon my office’s ongoing work, especially over the past year or so, they seem increasingly commonplace – making heightened vigilance, by public servants and citizens alike, ever more crucial.”
(All audit letters referenced in the summaries of the eight cases in this story can be found online through the Auditor of Public Accounts’ website at https://auditors.nebraska.gov/)
Custer County questionable employee timekeeping practices
Tuesday’s release includes a summary of a letter sent to the Custer County Board of Supervisors in May, explaining a former Highway Department employee’s use of a timekeeping program to record hours when she claimed to be on the job but wasn’t.
In the May letter, the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) explained that the County’s TimeClock Plus (TCP) timeclock system logs employee work hours while also recording the locations where the employee clocked in and out. Mobile devices like cell phones or laptops can be used to do so. After being logged in the system, employee work hours are reviewed and approved by a supervisor before the overall payroll claims are approved by the County Board and paid out.
The APA said that the review process appeared inconsistent across departments and that per inquiry, the Highway Department appeared to not review the location information logged in the system before approving employee timesheets.
The former employee, Jessica Burnett, had 12 days noted during examination of documentation provided by the county in which she clocked in or clocked out at questionable locations during working hours. The letter stated additional questionable days were possible, as Burnett used her mobile device to clock in and/or out of work a total of 157 days while employed by the County from February to December in 2024.
A table in the letter details Burnett’s clocking in and out of work at her personal residence, her children’s school building, a restaurant in Broken Bow, Taylor Jr-Sr High School/Elementary School, Kearney High School, and Callaway High School. The APA utilized Facebook and other websites to determine why Burnett was clocking in and out at those locations.
During the clocking in and out at these locations, Burnett recorded 64.25 hours and the APA calculated that she received $1,156.50 in gross pay for those hours.
Tuesday’s summary indicated that a resignation occurred before more questions could be asked about the details disclosed by the County’s timeclock program.
The audit letter closed by giving recommendations of procedures the County can implement that the audit staff hopes will be useful to them.
Village of Litchfield probe reveals apparent misappropriation of public funds, inaccurate utility billings and lack of documentation
Tuesday’s release also summarizes a letter sent to the Village of Litchfield, which points to former Village Clerk Julie Miller’s hand in incorrect self payment. The letter also details the village’s failure to withhold Federal, State, Social Security, or Medicare taxes from municipal employee paychecks, which makes the village potentially liable for the retroactive payment of those taxes and any accompanying penalties.
The summary released this week says that Miller paid herself at least $2,200 more than allowed under her approved rate of pay and allowable hours. She also received $753 in suspicious expense reimbursements for which there was no documentation.
A story from August of 2024 from Nebraska Examiner explained a report on the probe released by the auditor at that time. The 12 page letter to the village in April of this year gives comments and recommendations in an effort to ‘improve internal controls or result in other operational efficiencies’ while detailing their audit.
Items detailed in the April letter include:
– Pay in Excess of Approved Pay Rate and Hours Worked
– Lack of documented timesheets
– Unsupported mileage reimbursements
– Payroll tax withholding issues
– A lack of dual signatures on a village check
– A lack of adequate documentation for over $200 in Village credit card purchases
– A lack of adequate documentation to support payments of nearly $140,000 from the Village general fund bank account
– Expenditure in excess of budget (For fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, actual Village expenditures exceeded the adopted budget by over $197,000 and no amended budget was filed with the auditor’s office for the additional expenditures)
– Village appears to have failed to publish its annual job and wage publication between July and August of 2024, as required by State statute
Again, the letter closed by saying the hope is that the comments and suggestions made will prove as useful to the Village. A letter from the Village Board detailed policies and procedures that they have implemented to address the concerns the letter explained.
Other summaries of cases investigated recently by Foley’s office
Decatur Housing Authority (Burt County)
Foley’s audit letter alleges that, prior to her termination, the Executive Director of this housing authority processed over $18,000 in excessive compensation and unsupported reimbursements to herself. She also appears to have misrepresented certain financial documentation submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by listing checks as “void” when, in fact, they had cleared the housing authority’s bank account. Furthermore, she is believed to have grossly mishandled cash rental payments, resulting in over $8,000 in missing money. Her accounting lapses also resulted in the U.S. Internal Revenue Service notifying the housing agency of over $5,600 in unpaid Federal tax withholdings, including penalties and interest. The APA was informed, moreover, that she responded to the termination of her less-than-illustrious directorship by attempting unsuccessfully to delete approximately 400 files from the housing authority’s computer.
Interestingly, before her dismal performance at Burt County, that same individual had managed the Barber’s Sunrise Villa Apartments, which are owned and operated by the Bancroft Betterment Corporation (Cuming County). In a February 2025 audit letter to that entity, Foley detailed over $14,000 in suspected fraud there – much of it alleged to have been due to misconduct by the Manager similar to what she would be suspected of perpetrating later at Burt County, including the following:
• Writing herself payroll checks in excess of her regular wages;
• Receiving unsupported reimbursement payments;
• Making questionable debit card withdrawal transactions at a casino in Iowa; and
• Making other questionable debit card transactions that lacked proper approval and supporting documentation.
Cedar County
A former County Commissioner was observed on multiple occasions using a county pickup truck for alleged personal business. The same former Commissioner allowed citizens to pay for county services with gift cards, which were largely unaccounted for and may have been converted to personal use. Finally, the county awarded nearly $1 million in contracts for road-building equipment and materials without following the competitive bidding procedures mandated by State law.
Village of Pleasanton (Buffalo County)
Municipal employees made more than $20,000 in village expenditures at Menard’s over a two year period and then one of those employees used the resulting 11% rebate coupons – which totaled over $2,000 – as well as several hundred dollars in store credit vouchers, for personal purchases. In separate, unrelated transactions, shoddy accounting and administrative procedures resulted in the village paying thousands of dollars of claims that were either described improperly during the approval process or never approved at all.
Village of Farnam (Dawson County)
The former Village Clerk, who currently serves on the Village Board, was responsible for processing all utility invoices and payments for municipal water, sewer, and garbage services. Foley’s audit team identified 22 months of such service – costing an estimated $2,700 – for which she appears not to have billed herself. Presumably due to an ability to access the village’s billing records, her utility account is alleged to have been improperly credited as either paid or simply written off. The matter has been referred to local law enforcement. Criminal charges were filed against her, and she was found guilty of official misconduct on May 13, 2025. That same day, she paid $3,151.53 in restitution, which was held in trust by the Dawson County Court as of May 20, 2025. Her sentencing is set for July 3, 2025.
Nemaha County and Nemaha Rural Fire District 4
The County owns six fuel pumps, two of which can be accessed after hours by personnel with insider knowledgeable of how to do so. One County Commissioner was photographed using that county gas pump to fuel his personal truck after midnight on March 24, 2025.
Dundy County
The former Deputy County Clerk resigned from her position effective October 17, 2024. At the request of the County Board, however, she continued to work beyond her resignation date and was paid full-time wages despite a significant reduction in her official responsibilities.
