Irvington needs an outside financial monitor, state comptroller says

A watchdog agency that has twice warned Irvington officials about their sloppy accounting records is now urging state leaders to appoint an independent monitor to ensure the township implements corrections. 

Town leaders failed to file required financial documents, spent nearly $1M without approval from the town council, and even paid to rent space from a business partly owned by a top town official, the Office of the State Comptroller says.

The comptroller’s office said these and other issues show that Irvington’s finances are in “disarray” and taxpayer funds are at risk. This comes after the town was already cited by the office in 2009 and 2011 for mismanaging taxpayer funds. 

It’s all laid out in a letter Kevin Walsh, the acting comptroller, sent Wednesday to Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex). In a statement, Walsh said town leaders have ignored recommendations from his office and from their own auditors.

“Township leaders and staff didn’t even get the basics right,” Walsh said in a statement. “It’s clear that they need the day-to-day oversight of a monitor to get their house in order.”

Walsh’s letter says his office revisited Irvington’s finances recently to follow up on its 2009 and 2011 audits. The 2009 comptroller audit found the town’s general ledger was out of balance by $59.7 million, and the comptroller made 20 recommendations to the town. Two years later, the town had not made 13 of them. The latest comptroller’s review of Irvington’s finances — Walsh’s office reviewed documents from 2017 through 2023 — found “minimal progress,” the office said.

The comptroller’s latest findings include the following: On average, town leaders filed required financial reports about five months late; Irvington spent nearly $800,000 in “unidentified expenditures” without approval from the Irvington Town Council; the town’s various financial accounts were “riddled with errors;” and there was a $3.8 million discrepancy between the 2021 general ledger and a budget status report. 

Walsh’s office also uncovered a conflict of interest that it says violates state law. The town spent at least $200,000 between July 2017 and June 2022 renting office space from a company owned by Irvington’s chief financial officer, Faheem J Ra’Oof.  

Ra’Oof’s municipal financial officer certificate has also repeatedly lapsed several times, the comptroller’s office said. Town CFOs are required by law to hold that certificate. 

“Good governance requires commitment and vigilance,” Walsh said. “What we found in Irvington was the opposite – leaders and staff who disregarded recommendations, laws, ethics, and their obligation to safeguard public funds.”

Phone calls to the Irvington mayor and council members went unanswered Thursday. 

Walsh is calling for a state fiscal monitor “in order to protect taxpayer funds, and because numerous audits have failed to prompt appropriate action by the township.” The monitor would be appointed by the state Department of Community Affairs. 

The comptroller’s office will also require Irvington officials to report their progress every 90 days. State officials can also conduct additional follow-ups and audits, Walsh added.

The comptroller’s newest recommendations for Irvington include providing employee training, obtaining copies of certificates for staffers required to hold one, developing a process to identify vendors with conflicts of interest, and reviewing finances to determine if current staffing levels are needed. 

In addition to Walsh’s new recommendations, the office will report ethics violations to the Local Finance Board, a state board that enforces fiscal rules on New Jersey municipalities.

Elouise McDaniel is an Irvington woman sued in 2022 by the town, which accused her of harassment and defamation for filing “frivolous” Open Public Records Act requests (the town quickly dropped the suit). McDaniel filed about 70 records requests with the town over three years, often seeking data related to town finances.

On Thursday, McDaniel said she felt vindicated by the comptroller’s report.

“I was criticized and harassed, because I requested open public records. My reason for being concerned was due to the township’s questionable and careless spending habit of public funds. Mayor Vauss filed a complaint against me stating that I asked for too many OPRA requests, but now this report shows why I was concerned,” she said.