LOS ANGELES—Pocatello, Idaho doesn't have enough money to keep its own roads maintained, but has been spending money on paving projects in other cities, to the consternation of some city residents and leaders.
Controversy arose after news reports found that Idaho's fifth-most-populous city has been voluntarily doing paving jobs in parking lots and on roads for other southeastern Idaho cities.
Officials had said at one point the jobs were reciprocal, but Dave Swindell, Pocatello's chief financial officer, said that has not been the case.
No records were found of agreements with other cities.
Based on an internal audit of the street department's work orders, it is a recent practice. The majority of the jobs for other cities have been done this year. Only one work order was found for a job in McCammon performed in 2013, Swindell said.
"We hired an independent firm to conduct an investigation in to how this all got started," Swindell said. "The person hired from Deyton & Co. is a certified fraud examiner, in addition to being a licensed CPA."
The issue came to light in early July that the city's crews were performing work for other Idaho cities after the spouse of one of the city employees complained about her husband traveling to McCammon for a job, Swindell said.
"The finance department was unaware we were sending crews out to McCammon and the other cities," Swindell said.
The internal audit found work orders for five towns including Chubbuck, a suburb of Pocatello; American Falls, McCammon, Tetonia, McCammon and Driggs.
The City Council made the decision during an executive session held Aug. 4 to hire Deyton & Co., a local CPA, to conduct an independent audit when the city could not get clear answers as to who authorized the work.
"We as a City Council have been frustrated by the lack of explanatory information," city council members said in a joint statement issued after the executive session. "We understand the significant concerns expressed by many of our citizens and are determined to resolve this issue as expeditiously as possible."
The work done does not represent a significant portion of the city's annual street repair budget, which totals $5 million for fiscal 2013-14. One work order was $18,000.
"The amount of money isn't big, it's the principal," Swindell said.
Meanwhile, the city, like others in Idaho, has been struggling to find money to pay for street repairs.
The state's 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax hasn't changed since 1996, but increased vehicle fuel efficiency and inflation have whittled away the gas tax's ability to fund projects.
"Cities have two choices, they can either ignore the roads and not do maintenance; or raise property taxes," Swindell said.
In Pocatello, they have done both. When Swindell started in 2001, the city had not made road repairs for three years resulting in pothole-ridden roads. At that point, residents asked for increases in property taxes to fix the roads, he said.
In the short term, Swindell thinks the best solution is to increase the gas tax, a proposal floated by Gov. Butch Otter in 2008 that has not been revisited since. Otter's proposal made it through the Senate, but was shot down in the Idaho House of Representatives.
As for the street paving controversy, "A number of folks are upset, and rightfully so. I am upset," Swindell said.
