EDITORIAL: Nonprofits have greater accountability with money

It happens more than it should.  

A trusted person with little or no oversight is given control over an organization’s or city’s finances and has access to money. They then use that access through various means to line their own pockets and are not caught for years, if at all, and only after many thousands of dollars have gone missing and someone finally noticed. 

You think, it can’t happen here, but it does. 

A few cases in point this year: 

Melissa A. Taylor, of Hauser, pleaded guilty in July to three counts of Idaho state income tax evasion and two counts of grand theft.  

The former treasurer for the city of Hauser and former finance director for the city of Rathdrum embezzled money from a youth sports league and took city funds. 

First District Judge Scott Wayman sentenced Taylor to eight years in prison but suspended the sentence and placed her on supervised probation for four years. Taylor must also pay nearly $32,000 in restitution and complete 200 hours of community service. 

Taylor stole funds from the Lakeland Junior Tackle Football program and from the city of Hauser, where she was employed, according to court records. Prosecutors sought restitution in the amount of $19,697 for Hauser and $11,106 for the football program, as well as $1,161 in restitution for the Idaho State Tax Commission. 

To conceal the theft, authorities said, Taylor presented altered financial reports and account statements to fellow board members at monthly meetings. It doesn't sound like anyone really questioned her work.

And then there was this case:  

The former division chief of logistics for the Kootenai County EMS System received a probation sentence in July after he pleaded guilty to carrying out a drug diversion scheme.  

Scott T. Higgins, 57, of Coeur d’Alene, pleaded guilty to theft concerning a program receiving federal funds and acquiring controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud or deception, according to court records.  

Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye ordered Higgins to pay restitution to Kootenai County EMS and placed him on probation for five years. If Higgins violates the terms of his probation, he will be subject to re-sentencing and faces up to 14 years in prison. 

In his position as division chief of logistics, Higgins was responsible for purchasing and managing controlled substances on behalf of the Kootenai County EMS System. Between July 2020 and February 2023, Higgins ordered “significantly” more opioids than were required and kept the excess for personal use, according to court records. These opioids included morphine, hydromorphone and fentanyl.  

The total value of the opioids that Higgins wrongfully acquired from this scheme was $13,428.24. 

There are other local embezzlement cases, but we think these are good examples of when someone has too much control over the money and there is a weak checks-and-balances system. This happens not just to cities and nonprofits, but private businesses as well. There have been other major cases in our area over the years The Press has reported on. All seemed the result of too much trust placed in one person. 

We wish we could trust everyone implicitly. We wish no one would do such things as steal money from a junior tackle football program, but the opportunity to take money, and the chance of not getting caught, is too much for some to pass up. 

While it’s good to trust people, it’s not good to trust people and assume they’ll always do the right thing. It’s not good to hand over the checkbook to one person and assume they will always be honest. It’s not wise to turn over access to the savings account to someone and never bother to see what they’re doing with that money. You don't know the degree of someone's personal finances.

Nonprofits have a greater degree of accountability to be sure their finances are handled accurately and honestly because they are dealing with donated money with the idea it will be well-spent. It can’t be that one person controls the purse strings and no one monitors their work. Two signatures on checks, authorization from more than one person for wire transfers or someone reviewing weekly expenditures and expenses would seem not just logical, but necessary. 

Our hope for the New Year is we don’t have to report on even a single case of embezzlement. The best way for that to happen, we hate to say, is don't be quite so trusting when it comes to money.