PANAMA CITY — Bay County has suspended a program under which employees have been reimbursed for education expenses following a former employee’s arrest for allegedly defrauding the county out of nearly $49,000.
The moratorium doesn’t impact reimbursements for employees already in the program, but employees who want to participate will have to wait until a review of the programs’ practices and procedures has concluded, said Bay County spokeswoman Valerie Sale. There is no timetable for the completion of that review, Sale said.
The suspension comes amid the resignation and later arrest of former executive administrative assistant Gina Gainey, who had cited “health reasons” as the reason for her departure. Around that time, county employees reported found omissions in her job application; she had had to repay a former employer from whom she’d embezzled about $200,000 in 2006.
Amy Cooper only recently took on the Human Resources Manager position for the county, but she was the one who discovered Gainey’s alleged fraud after learning Gainey had been reimbursed for about two years of coursework she hadn’t completed.
“This is the first time in two decades that anything like this has come to light that we’re aware of, so I think that’s a pretty good record,” Cooper said.
According to law enforcement records, Gainey was forging transcripts to make it appear she had scored better grades because better scores result in greater reimbursements. She did attend classes at Virginia College in Birmingham, but she continued to use forged documents to apply for and receive reimbursements for years after graduating with an associate’s degree.
County officials won’t comment on her case specifically because the law enforcement investigation continues, Sale said. Gainey, who has pleaded not guilty and been released on bond while she awaits trial, did not respond to a request for comment.
“We are revisiting the program now that this has happened because it is unfortunate, and we want to make sure that we have the best practices possible,” Cooper said.
The Education Assistance Program has been in place at least 22 years, Sale said.
Cooper said the program benefits the county by creating more skilled employees, which also benefits the employees who gain the skills. All full time employees are eligible for reimbursement the cost of optional courses related to their present job.
Requirements
In order to participate and be reimbursed, employees must go through an application process for each course and promise to stay in their current job for one year after they’ve completed each course. If they leave before one year has passed, the employee must repay the county.
An employee must earn at least “C” or better to be reimbursed, or a “pass” if the course is graded on a pass/fail basis. The county reimburses 100 percent of tuition and fees when the employee earns an “A,” 75 percent when the employee earns a “B” and 50 percent for a “C.” The program does not reimburse employees for the cost of books and materials, late fees or refundable deposits associated with a course.
Sale said at any given time about five employees participate in the program, which has operated at an average cost of about $12,000 a year.
The process of vetting applications apparently failed to verify the transcripts Gainey submitted were authentic. The county has been accepting unofficial transcripts, which a student can print from a computer, and that’s a practice that might change, Cooper said.
Cooper said the county is trying to find a balance; of course, they don’t want employees bilking taxpayers, but they don’t want to discourage employees from participating in a program that has benefits for everyone involved. They also don’t want to insult honest employees by treating them like crime suspects, Cooper said.
“We just really want to make it the ... best that it could be to avoid this from happening again, but not so stringent that it’s not even worth the effort for the employee because we want to help people better themselves and become better at what they do and better to our citizens,” Cooper said.