WEST HAVEN, Conn. — For quite some time now, West Haven's finances have been under fire. Since 2017, the city has been under the watchful eye of the Municipal Accountability Review Board... also known as "MARB." In 2022, the state increased the level of scrutiny and monitoring to the highest amount possible, which is Tier IV.
"We're still dealing with the darkness associated with West Haven, unfortunately," Mark Waxenberg, a MARB board member, said in their monthly meeting on Thursday.
West Haven was placed under Tier IV by Gov. Ned Lamont after former State Rep. and part-time west haven employee, Michael DiMassa, admitted to stealing nearly $1 million in COVID relief money...along with a few others.
"We're taking a hard look now with a consultant to see where we can fix those gaps and get them on the right path to controlling their finances and making sure that they're on a good, sound footing going forward," said Jeffrey Beckham, Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and Chair of the board.
That consultant conducted an audit report for fiscal year 2021. On Thursday, MARB members sat in on a presentation of some of the findings of that report. The consultant pointed out a few changes they would recommend city leaders to take, including how they handle the payroll process. As it stood at the time of the audit, it allowed people to move around money too easily. West haven leaders say they're working on that.
"We actually have moved payroll out of HR where it was, it's now in the finance area. And we have two HR postings, currently," said David Taylor, Acting Finance Director of West Haven.
Taylor stepped into his current role after the former Director of Finance, Scott Jackson, stepped down last month. Previously, Taylor was the assistant director. Mayor Nancy Rossi said he plans to step back into that role after the budget process is complete. In the meantime, she said they're working on hiring a full-time replacement.
"They do have some staffing issues. They need to get the right people in the right jobs, and they need more staff generally," Beckham said.
To help out, MARB is working on hiring a finance manager, who will be at city hall full time. And they will take further action, if needed.
"It's a lengthy process, we all have to have some patience, but we're going to get the city to a better place," Beckham said.
Beckham said the finance manager likely won't step into their role until this summer.
There's also been talks of a complete state takeover, where West Haven would essentially lose control of its government. Beckham said while that's still on the table, he doesn't think it's necessary.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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