How does a city plow through millions of dollars and not know how? The town of Pembroke Park said it needs to find out, and commissioners will be asked to approve a six-figure contract with a forensic accounting firm as early as this month.
Town officials said they took out a $2.3 million loan from the federal U.S. Department of Agriculture in January 2009 for “the acquisition, construction and erection of extensions and improvements to the sewer system.”
But somehow the details of how much was spent on what specific project, if any at all, got lost over the years. It was forgotten about until November 2021 when the USDA demanded a final payment of $2,012,000 to close out the loan when the town realized it didn’t have answers.
At an interest rate of 4.3750, the town paid a total of $3,591,997.
Town Manager Juan “J.C.” Jimenez said he believes the improvements were made, but blames “terrible record-keeping” for the mystery. He said the forensic audit will “answer those questions. We would like to know what’s going on.”
Roy D. Brown, the town’s new Budget & Finance director, said he found files from 2009 “that show some improvements were made,” although he did not specify what.
“However, due to challenges of locating these records from over a decade ago, I can only find so much,” he said.
Pembroke Park Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs said he has asked repeatedly for answers and said he’s “extremely frustrated” there are still no answers other than the loan origination documents but no records of expenditures.
“It’s $2.3 million in a city that can’t afford to lose any money,” he said. And “our sewer system is falling apart,” he contends.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash