Summer youth programs questioned

City manager Bob Bartolotta told the Sarasota City Commission at its regular meeting Tuesday that he has asked the Sarasota Police Department to investigate allegations of double billing by a city employee involved with Newtown summer youth programs.

Commissioners reviewed an audit requested by Bartolotta, which reveal that since 2009, there were improper payments from three youth programs titled Man Up, Yelda and Merit.
A city employee working for Yelda, the audit reveals, billed the city and the state twice for youth program participant timecards.

Yelda, a youth program that’s currently under the auspices of the Newtown Front Porch Neighborhood Revitalization Council, is run with a $25,000 grant from the state’s Department of Community Affairs and is designed to offer youths summer jobs.

The audit states that the city “did not require or request information on how the matching funds were utilized and was therefore unaware that Yelda invoiced both the city and the state for the same charges.”

City administrative assistant Lori Benton, the audit states, billed a duplicate payroll of approximately $6,000. Insufficient funds, other timecard errors and conflicts of interest were also cited in the audit.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to rescind nine previously approved grants for the three summer youth programs and requested staff to come up with a new, stricter policy for summer youth grant programs that will include more city oversight.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].