FREEHOLD — The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has approved the creation of a special board to review county contracts and billing procedures.
The new Contract Standards Review Board will meet at least twice a year to randomly select and review samples of contracts executed or paid during the previous six-month period to examine whether any irregularities had occurred and, if necessary, make corrections.
The review panel was first proposed several months ago by Freeholder Amy H. Handlin, long before three businessmen and 11 government officials from several Monmouth County towns were arrested in connection with an FBI probe involving corruption, according to a press release from the county.
“Possible discrepancies that have been discovered this past week during our review of the bills submitted so far this year by Air Brake and Equipment only serve to reinforce the need for this review board,” Handlin said. “It will provide another important level of oversight that will go a long way in restoring the public’s trust in government.”
The board will be comprised of at least one freeholder, the county administrator or his designee, counsel to the purchasing department or his designee, and one additional department head on a rotating basis, who will serve for only one year.
According to Handlin, the contracts or invoices to be reviewed will be selected at random and on a rotating basis from the areas of county government that execute contracts with vendors, such as engineering, property leasing and human services. Each contract or invoice will be evaluated against a checklist representing the appropriate standards and procedures. Any irregularities will be reported to both the originating department and the purchasing department for correction, according to the press release.
“We are not going to allow any vendor engaged in business with Monmouth County to take advantage of us or, by extension, the citizens we serve,” said Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers. “I, personally, was outraged to learn that the prices Air Brake and Equipment had used to calculate some of their bills may have been inflated, and we have begun to take immediate action to examine this situation. The new review board will protect against this situation in the future.”
According to the press release, county officials have so far examined Air Brake and Equipment’s bills from 2005, which have not yet been paid, and have found several instances where prices appeared to have been inflated in such a way as to avoid detection.
Since the arrests, the county has ceased doing new business with Air Brake and Equipment, which provides maintenance to the county’s fleet of vehicles, or its sister company, International Trucks of Central Jersey, which has successfully bid to supply the county with its trucks. According to the press release, Air Brake and Equipment appears to have over billed the county in 2005 and 2003. The company did not have the contract to provide maintenance on county vehicles in 2004.
“Once the suspected billing discrepancies were uncovered, the county immediately contacted the FBI and we have begun compiling data from this year and years past to aid in the investigation,” Freeholder Robert D. Clifton said.
County Administrator Louis Paparozzi said any 2005 bills from Air Brake and Equipment found to be in error will be corrected.