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Salt Lake County's widening criminal probe into employee tuition perks soon could seem, well, academic.
On Wednesday, a former payroll employee in the personnel office dropped an even bigger bombshell, alleging "significant discrepancies" in worker timecards.
The news prompted the mayor's office to request a countywide "spot audit" of timecards, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.
"The allegations are serious," said Doug Willmore, chief administrative officer, adding that the new administration suspected timecard abuses "might be a problem."
"It's just one more contention we have that the most significant problem at the county is missing financial controls."
Auditor Sean Thomas confirmed Wednesday his office has received the request and is setting up the mechanism for a first-of-its-kind timecard investigation.
"I consider these serious issues," conceded Kevin Schofield, a union representative for county workers.
The former payroll employee - who now works in the auditor's office and was not identified - was granted whistle-blower protection Wednesday.
Besides the timecard questions, she also alleges widespread hiring abuses under Personnel Director Felix McGowan in which job standards often were lowered to employ friends and family members of county employees.
McGowan could not be reached for comment.
The latest accusations come a day after a second personnel whistle-blower alleged McGowan knew of tuition abuses nearly 18 months ago, yet verbally threatened the employee to keep it quiet. That revelation forced a second criminal inquiry into mismanagement of the Tuition Assistance Program by the District Attorney's Office.
On Wednesday, the auditor's payroll chief, LeAnne Sarver, said she asked McGowan back in 1995 why the county paid tuition before employees completed their classes.
"I was told in no uncertain terms that that's the way it is and don't bring it up again," she said.
Sarver said problems with the tuition program became "more of a trend" in recent years, but she opted not to intervene because, by that time, an audit was under way.
Mayor Peter Corroon has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. today to address the continuing controversies.
Documents provided to the mayor's office from the latest whistle-blower suggest tuition coordinator Lisa Funderburk had "significant discrepancies" in her written and electronic timecards as well as a computer log of hours worked during the past three years. A one-year analysis showed Funderburk, who did not return calls seeking comment, showed gaps in her hours 31 percent of the time.
When the discrepancy was reported, McGowan allegedly said he had done a check on Funderburk's time and found "nothing to cause him concern," the documents state.
Funderburk and McGowan already are under investigation by the District Attorney's Office in the tuition scandal.
Willmore says the whistle-blower found enough questionable timecards to justify a countywide check. He concedes that poring over all of them is "nearly impossible" - since they are based on the honor system - but hopes the so-called spot audit will provide a thorough look.
"We want to right the wrongs."