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The Utah League of Cities and Towns Board decided Friday to delve deeper into alleged misuse of taxpayer money by a former top administrator.

Leaders of the publicly funded group say state Auditor John Dougall has agreed to review three additional years' worth of credit-card records after an initial audit showed Michelle Reilly, former director of administrative services, charged $5,000 in personal expenses on her league card in the past year.

The charges included trips to Europe, Philadelphia and Southern California, expensive dinners and music downloads.

"It's a really, really big deal and we are doing everything we can to get to the bottom of all the facts and make sure at the end of the day that it never, ever happens again," said just-elected League President Steve Hiatt, the mayor of Kaysville.

The league's board also heard proposals for numerous reforms on how it handles finances to prevent future problems — and it hired a new chief financial officer and a new outside auditing consultant.

The league also acknowledged, because of inquiries by The Tribune, that it has failed to post its agendas, and to post salaries and other expenses as required on the state's transparency website. It will begin to do that now.

Cities and towns fund the league with taxpayer money to offer training, perform research and handle lobbying for them.

Reilly, who worked for the league for 31 years and had an annual salary of about $85,000, has reimbursed the league for the $5,000 in credit-card charges, said League Executive Director Ken Bullock. She has since retired, and Bullock said she was not pushed out because of the expense controversy.

Hiatt said the league will likely refer the matter to law enforcement to review for possible charges, but first seeks to audit the additional three years worth of records to determine how widespread problems were.

"That's the direction we are heading," Hiatt said. "In my view, you have to do that."

The league initially hired an outside auditor to look at just one year of credit-card charges after an employee raised questions about Reilly's spending. Following discussions with those auditors, Bullock proposed several changes in how to handle league finances.

Among changes he urged the board to consider adopting:

• Possible elimination of league credit cards. Instead, employees would submit receipts and descriptions of their expenses for reimbursement.

• If credit cards are used, receipts supporting the charges would be required. For meals, Bullock wants the names of everyone in attendance and a description of the business purpose of the meal.

• Several layers of review before expenses are paid. Toward that end, the board hired a new chief financial officer, Kerri Nakamura, and an outside auditing consultant, Lorie Dudley.

• Spending limits and clearly identified prohibited uses of credit cards, including cash advances, alcohol purchases and personal expenses.

The policy would make clear that violations will be punished, possibly including termination and criminal prosecution.

Bullock also proposed several changes in how the league handles its payroll, including being more careful to ensure that it complies with federal rules in using compensatory time off for overtime worked.

Records provided to The Tribune, for example, showed that instead of giving some unnamed employees comp time, the league spent $226 for them to have dinner at the upscale Fleming's steakhouse.

Bullock also told the board that The Tribune "has brought to our attention the lack of compliance the league has been doing with the [state's] transparency website," such as not posting its salaries or expenses and also not publicly posting board-meeting agendas.

Such information will be made available, he said. "It's something we are also working with the state auditor to make sure we are in compliance."