WATCHDOG: Audit finds Ellsworth Township improperly appropriated funds

The township of Ellsworth was hit with findings of noncompliance in its most recent state financial audit, including a full year’s worth of funds appropriated improperly. 

A newly released report details the violations, found in a biannual regular audit that covered January 2022 to December 2023. The township's administration tells 21 News the violations were inadvertent. 

The first issue found in the audit, labeled a “material weakness and noncompliance,” regarded documentation the township did not submit to the county. Each township is required to send a certificate of estimated resources to the county auditor each year, to make funds officially available for appropriation. But Ellsworth's fiscal officer, Jim Decenso, missed the deadline to submit that form in 2023 — so the township technically improperly spent its entire budget that year. 

“Even though our trustees had approved the budget and approved those appropriations, the county never rubber stamped it,” Decenso said. 

“Obviously, when I realized that I had not filed the certificate of resources on a timely basis with the county, it's very embarrassing,” he added, saying he takes “full responsibility” for the error. 

Ellsworth’s second violation, a “significant deficiency,” concerned thousands of dollars transferred between funds without approval. Decenso says it happened after taxpayers voted to create a levy for fire and emergency medical services in November 2022. The new fund would allow for around-the-clock EMS services at the fire station — but it would not be created until the following April. 

Not wanting to wait six months to establish the emergency service, Decenso says the township’s Board of Trustees decided to use a surplus in the fire fund in the meantime. Decenso moved $17,000 from the Fire Levy fund to the EMS fund, and made an advance of $23,500 from the Fire District Fund to the Fire and Rescue Fund. 

However, both of those expenditures did not move through the proper approvals process — the levy transfer was not approved by the tax commissioner and the Court of common Pleas, while the advance was not approved by resolution. 

Decenso said he only learned these actions were improper when the state was conducting the audit. 

“At the time of the audit, the auditor showed me that the language from the 2002 levy that created the fire fund did not include the word 'ambulance', so technically, we were not allowed to spend that money on our ambulance services,” he said. 

Decenso now acknowledges that those transfers were technically illegal, but says the extra six months with additional EMS services for the township were “worth the violation.” 

“We felt that it would be important to have those EMTs here and not have to wait for monies to come in under a different restricted fund,” he said.

Going forward, Decenso says the township has resolved these issues and will stay in compliance with state law. 

“I am making sure that I'm filing the documents with the county on a timely basis. and as far as the transfer of monies, now that we have sufficient funding in our emergency ambulance fund, there's no need for any transfers from any of the other funds,” Decenso said.