Who: State Auditor Wayne Johnson and Rep. Greg Nibert
What: Tour of Senior Center in Roswell, NM
When: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at 11am
Where: JOY Senior Center, 1822 N. Montana Ave, Roswell, NM
Why: To discuss wasteful spending of dollars meant to help New Mexico seniors
Roswell, NM – State Auditor Wayne Johnson will visit a senior center in Roswell, NM on Wednesday at 11:00 am to discuss a recent audit that found tens of thousands of dollars meant for seniors wasted on parties, laser tag, and employee bonuses. Statewide, Chaves County took the largest budget cut in 2017, losing $45,947 that year in funding meant to provide meals, transportation and home-care services to seniors.
Doña Ana County was slashed $45,106 while Santa Fe County was cut $43,078. Overall, $617,998 were cut from senior programs throughout the state.
"This JOY Center does incredible work of feeding seniors and providing a multitude of services," says Johnson. "But while JOY and facilities like it throughout New Mexico were doing more with less and were counting pennies last year, the Area Agency on Aging that funds them was burning cash on laser tag and employee bonuses. That's a shame."
Last week Johnson released the results of a special audit of the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District that receives more than $20 million annually to provide meals, caregiving, transportation, and other services to seniors in nearly every New Mexico county. Johnson says the results are stunning and disappointing and show a reckless disregard for public funds at a time when nearly three-quarters of a million dollars were cut state-wide from senior services.
The audit found dozens of expenditures that appear to be non-allowable under federal and state law, or are an indication of a lack of fiscal responsibility. These include:
- Nearly $58,000 in employee bonuses for about 26 public employees;
- Nearly $1,500 at Main Event, an Albuquerque entertainment venue with video games, laser-tag, a high-ropes balancing course, and a restaurant with a full-service bar;
- $8,000 for a "staff retreat" at Albuquerque's ritzy Andaluz Hotel, including banquet service and lodging;
- More than $20,000 for economic development software and conferences seemingly unrelated to direct services for seniors;
- Thousands of dollars for meals, some with alcohol, at restaurants like Tucano's and Santa Fe's Eloisa Restaurant;
- More than $6,000 wasted on unnecessary fees, penalties, 1credit card interest and late fees;
This fact-sheet breaks out the full list of 'non-compliant" items, as well as a county-by-county listing of budget cuts for senior services.
Read the original report about the audit of senior care dollars here: https://www.saonm.org/news/detail/wayne_johnson_120000_elder_care_funds_used_instead_for_parties_a