State auditor finds former Baxter officials misused funds

The State Auditor’s Office found more than $90,000 was misused by former City of Baxter employees, all of which resigned from their posts back in early 2024.

Released today was a report of the special investigation, which was requested by city officials as a result of concerns regarding certain financial transactions processed by former employees William Daggett, the former police chief; Katie Wilson, the former city clerk; and Randi Gliem, the former EMS coordinator.

The investigation — which covered the time period between July 1, 2021 and Feb. 29, 2024 — identified more than $75,000 of improper disbursements, more than $11,000 of unsupported disbursements and more than $3,800 of unbilled, uncollected and over-collected utility billings.

The report noted it was not possible to determine if additional amounts were improperly disbursed because city records were not sufficiently maintained.

State Auditor Rob Sand reported the $75,073.73 of improper disbursements identified in the investigation include:

• $51,275.62 of improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments, respectively, paid to Daggett;

• $3,509.55 of improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments, respectively, paid to Wilson;

• $1,461.09 of improper payroll costs and excess vacation balance payout, respectively, paid to Gliem;

• $1,776.99 of improper payroll to EMS volunteers;

• $4,050.00 of improper payments to a former water affidavit operator;

• $10,475.05 of improper disbursements to vendors and cash withdrawals;

• $2,037.66 of improper purchases made with the city’s VISA credit card, late fees, and interest; and

• $487.77 of improper disbursements to vendors for police department operations.

The $11,294.57 of unsupported disbursements are for transactions for which the city could not provide supporting documentation, including purchases made with the city’s credit card, purchases from vendors, reimbursements issued to the former librarian and reimbursements issued to Wilson.

The $3,814.88 of unbilled, uncollected and over-collected utility billings derived from $2,851.91 of utility deposits not properly returned to certain customers, $565.47 of utility penalties and $397.50 of non-sufficient funds fees which should have been applied to account but were not.

It was recommended by the state auditor that city officials implement procedures to ensure the city’s internal controls are strengthened, including segregation of duties, performing utility reconciliations, performing independent review of bank statements and ensuring all disbursements are properly supported and paid.

So far, no criminal charges have been issued against Daggett, Wilson or Glib.

Jasper County Sheriff Brad Shutts said in a statement on Nov. 6 that his office acknowledges the release of the report and is aware of its findings. Due to the ongoing investigation and related legal considerations, Shutts said the county sheriff’s office will not be providing any additional comments at this time.

Baxter Mayor Doug Bishop provided Newton News with a comment from the city:

“The audit report has been released by the State Auditor’s Office. The link is available to the public. This is an ongoing criminal investigation being handled by DCI and County Attorney’s Office. We will defer all questions to them. The City of Baxter will have no further comments at this time.”

Newton News will continue to publish updates regarding the report.