Newly elected Whitehall Township Treasurer Tina Koren and Commissioner Andy Roman formally announced, in a February news release, their earlier request to the state auditor general’s office to conduct an audit of the township tax office to uncover what they call “the malfeasance that occurred during the former treasurer’s tenure” has been answered with a directive the request be referred to the state attorney general’s office.

According to Gary Miller, press secretary for the Department of the Auditor General, “This department did receive such a request, but the department does not have the statutory authority to audit a municipal treasurer’s office. Our department’s audit scope involving municipalities is limited to examining the management of specific types of state funding: pension aid and Liquid Fuels Tax funds.

“Because this department is prohibited from offering legal guidance, we did recommend that the township consider contacting the PA Office of Attorney General,” Miller said.

It was announced during a January 2021 meeting of township commissioners that the township tax office had gone through a fraud investigation after irregularities were noticed in late June 2019.

An employee of the tax office had been placed on administrative leave following the irregular findings, it was reported. In a unanimous decision made by township officials and the township treasurer, the board of commissioners hired a private fraud investigation company, Buckno Lisicky and Company, of Allentown, to complete an investigation alongside the Whitehall Police Department and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

Buckno Lisicky and Company revealed $77,992 in Whitehall school taxes and township garbage fees in 2018-19 could not be accounted for. Following this discovery, all current township employees were vetted and the employee that was placed on administrative leave was fired immediately, according to a report from the meeting.

In a January 2021 statement, the township board of commissioners said the tax office records indicated “certain real estate tax, per capita tax and garbage fees were received but not immediately deposited as required by the township charter.”

At this same January meeting, the board took a narrow vote of “no confidence” in Colleen Gober, the township treasurer at that time.

The commissioners reportedly continue to work to get to the bottom of what happened in the tax office.

Koren said she entered the treasurer’s office Jan. 3, her first day on the job, and saw what she could only describe as disarray.

The filing cabinets had papers haphazardly thrown in them, seven boxes full of papers from the Buckno Lisicky audit sat on the floor, and two bags and a shredder full of paper were found, she said.

It is unknown if the missing tax and fee money is related to the disarray Koren found in the tax office. However, Koren is working to ensure nothing like this will happen in her four years in office.

“I have only started and plan to continue to streamline processes and continually review,” she said.

Among these changes are an accounting system, receipt system, balance sheet and filing system.

Commissioners continue to address this issue at almost every meeting. Commissioner Jeff Warren introduced a bill in December 2021 proposing the tax office gets independently audited each year, rather than only being audited when there is a change in treasurer. The bill was passed by a vote of 7-0.

Koren also said commissioners are looking at outsourcing the tax collector/treasure position after her four-year term.