Letter: Responsible Contractor Ordinance Will Help Prevent Fraud, Waste and Abuse

As the Fraud, Waste and Abuse investigator for Centre County, I take protecting taxpayer dollars seriously and will investigate problematic contractors that may not have fulfilled their contractual obligations with the county. Whether those instances amount to fraud, waste or abuse is to be determined but may be worth the look.

All employees and anyone doing business with Centre County Government are welcomed and encouraged to contact my office’s Fraud, Waste and Abuse hotline at 814-548-1143 or via the web at centrecountypa.gov/fraud if they suspect any of these on county projects. These reports can be made anonymously. I only encourage those filing reports to provide as much detail as possible, especially if filed anonymously, so that I have as full a picture as possible to begin investigating.

While this may provide some reassurance when a project has started, if I receive a call, the potential problems have already occurred. The Responsible Contractor Ordinance proposed for Centre County provides the opportunity to prevent these issues before they occur and/or prevent those contractors not fulfilling the requirements of the RCO from bidding on future projects for a period of time. As it stands now without the ordinance, even if a contractor was found to have committed fraud, waste or abuse, there is nothing to prevent them from bidding on and being awarded future projects. This should concern any taxpayer within the county.

Remember we’re talking about protecting and guarding taxpayer dollars and preventing fraud, waste or abuse of them. If you see it, report it.

Jason Moser
Centre County Controller