Elizabeth City Daily Advance
October 10, 2007
AMHC audit cites wasteful spending
Agency spent $12K on board conference
By BOB MONTGOMERY
Staff Writer
Albemarle Mental Health Center’s area program
director receives an “excessive” salary that is 2.4 times
more than the state average, according to a performance
audit released Tuesday by State Auditor Leslie Merritt.
Merritt’s 57-page report is the result of an
11-month performance audit of the AMHC requested last
October by the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners.
The report cites wasteful and “excessive”
spending, and includes 11 findings, nine of which are
related to AMHC and two directed at the state urging greater
fiscal oversight of local mental health agencies.
AMHC’s attorney, John Morrison, said the
audit contained no surprises. He also noted that it
contained no findings of any wrongdoing.
Most of the findings relate to AMHC Area
Program Director Charles Franklin’s salary and compensation,
which the board has already taken steps to address, he said.
“I think their concern is whether the state
is getting the biggest bang for its buck,” Morrison said of
the auditor’s office. “And it’s been our position that it
is.”
Cecil Perry, an AMHC board member and
chairman of the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners,
said he would decline comment until he reviewed the final
report. He was opposed to requesting an audit last year.
Highlights of the report’s findings include:
Franklin’s base salary of $282,663 and that
of his special assistant Linda Triplett, $142,848, are
“excessive” compared to top positions at other Local
Management Entities in the state and other high-ranking
state government officials.
The average salary among the 29 LMEs
statewide is $115,431. While Franklin’s base pay is the
highest, AMHC’s population service territory is ranked 26th
out of 30, the report states.
The report also compares Franklin’s salary to
that of the executive director of the N.C. Lottery, who
makes $246,750 annually; Elizabeth City State University
Chancellor Willie Gilchrist, who makes $200,000 annually;
and Gov. Mike Easley, who is paid $130,629 a year.
Morrison said the AMHC board already reduced
Franklin’s salary in July to a flat $225,000, but did not
reduce Triplett’s pay. However, even at $225,000, Franklin’s
salary still exceeds that of all other mental health
directors in the state. The next highest is Piedmont’s
director, who makes $156,067, the audit states.
Auditors also questioned whether Tripplett,
who lacks a college degree, has the training necessary to
serve as the assistant director at AMHC.
Expenses are “excessive” for mental health
board members. “The center annually pays for board members
and their spouses to attend training conferences around the
state at some of North Carolina’s exclusive resorts,” the
audit states. “The conference activities do not appear to
relate to the board members’ duties and responsibilities.”
Cited was $12,476 in hotel costs for board
members to stay at the Inn on Biltmore Estate in Asheville
on Sept. 18-22, 2005, for a conference Sept. 18-21 at
another location, the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville.
“There was no documentation to support the extra night
stay,” the audit states.
Morrison said AMHC is one of two nationally
accredited mental health agencies in North Carolina. The
other is Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Attending conferences is
necessary to maintain that accreditation, he said.
In its response to the audit, AMHC defended
its board members’ attendance at three conferences each
year. “(The board) must be actively engaged and
knowledgeable to deal with complex (mental health,
disability and substance abuse) issues,” the report quotes
AMHC’s response. “Part of the board’s strategy for
obtaining, retaining, educating and ensuring actively
participating board members is to provide access to high
quality training in settings conducive to learning, team
building and attendance.”
The center’s board “should have exercised
more oversight in its responsibilities to monitor operations
and ensure public funds are used in the most effective and
efficient manner to fulfill the center’s mission.”
In its response, the board said it “oversees
the successful operation of a $23 million program providing
mental health, developmental disabilities and substance
abuse services to one of North Carolina’s most rural and
difficult to serve.”
Further, the agency responded, “the board is
of the opinion it has actually saved money in the following
ways: first, the center has a low turnover rate due to its
compensation and investment in its employees. Also, AMHC
requires minimal local funding in lieu of getting average
state funding. AMHC has a staff of approximately 225 people
— this is far larger than other mental health agencies
operating on less money from the state.”
Franklin retired from AMHC in June 2005 after
34 years of service, then agreed to stay on as its director
as a private contractor. The State Treasurer’s office voided
that contract, and ordered Franklin to repay the state
$157,000 for 13 months of state benefits he received from
July 1, 2005, to July 31, 2006.
This past July, the mental health board voted
to cut Franklin’s pay by nearly $100,000 to $225,000, in
part because of the governor’s criticism of Franklin’s high
pay.
http://www.dailyadvance.com/local/content/news/stories/2007/10/10/1010AuditRM.html
