Controller Melinda Kantner used the public segment on the agenda of the Schuylkill County Commissioners' meeting Wednesday to respond to comments made by L. Samuel Deegan, at an information meeting held by the commissioners last week when Deegan submitted his audit of the financial spendings by the county in 2009.

Kantner claims Deegan was "not hired to conduct an accurate single audit report, rather he was hired to participate in a scheme to politically assassinate her."Deegan was awarded a four year contract by the commissioners to perform the audit. He was the low bidder. All along Kantner has accused Deegan of not being qualified to do the job. In previous years an auditing firm with experience in auditing counties had the contract.In his report last week Deegan questioned the "competence, knowledge and professionalism of the controller's office."Kantner's response, "My staff has invested more than 1,300 hours compiling information, reports and schedules, educating, answering questions and otherwise assisting Mr. Deegan with the audit. The mountain of material provided to Deegan exceeds four feet tall in height."Kantner claimed he did not know what to do with the material. She also claimed that the county didn't saved money in hiring Deegan because his bid was much lower than proposed by several other auditing firms. "We actually had to expend more funds," Kantner states, "in order to complete the compilation of the DCED (Department of Community and Economic Development) which required the services of an experienced auditing firm, Mailie, Falconiero."Kantner appealed to the commissioners, "to start working in good faith with my office and all county departments. Let us devise a more centralized accounting and grant management system in the county. Just over the last several weeks $120,000 in grant funds to the county drug and alcohol agency had to be returned to the state due to incomplete utilization while our county is experiencing one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the Commonwealth."Let us start by restoring the auditor's position which was deleted from the controller's office in December 2008. As you have done for others, compensate my auditing staff for additional hours devoted to the county. Then, we may proceed to discuss and provide for the changes desired to move Schuylkilll Counry forward in a positive direction. This is what the taxpayers of this county demand and that is what they deserve."Mark Scarbinsky, county fiscal administrator, claimed the controller did not respond to the request made by Deegan in his report last week that training should be secured for the staff and that correcting the deficiencies he reported. Among the charges made by Deegan was the controller did not record transactions during the proper period, accruals for revenue from federal and state grants were not recorded in proper period and the financial records did not reflect the correct financial activity of the period under audit and many more material mistakes.Hearing FridayIn her statement Kantner talks about restoring the auditor position. This is now before the court.A hearing is scheduled to be held Friday morning before an out-of-county Senior Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter on a petition submitted by County Solicitor Eric Mika asking the court to enforce a settlement in the lawsuit filed by Kantner against the county commissioners over the auditor position. Back in 2008 the commissioners transferred an auditor from the controller's office to their office. The petition claims Kantner "orally" agreed to the settlment. Kantner denies it.