Allegations of 'No Bid Contracts': 'None of Them Are True'

Ocean City received a "clean audit report with no findings or recommendations," Mike Garcia told City Council on Thursday.

Garcia is an accountant with Ford-Scott & Associates LLC of Ocean City and Mays Landing, the independent agency hired to conduct a required annual audit of Ocean City's finances and financial procedures. 

Garcia said the audit report was delivered later than usual this year because the state Division of Local Government Services asked auditors to investigate several allegations made in a June 19 letter to the state.

Neither Garcia nor the state identified the sender of the letter, which accused the city of failure to "encumber funds," failure to obtain competing price quotes, improperly approving emergency contracts and improper training and use of "p-cards."

"None of them are true or have any merit to them," Garcia said of the allegations.

He said the report provided to City Council included 18 pages of attachments and supporting documentation to support the firm's investigation.

Three of the allegations related to the city paying $22,414 to Shore Shine Car Wash of Marmora for the cleaning and servicing of city-owned vehicles in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.  In a series of City Council meetings, Ocean City resident Ed Price has raised questions about requesting the work without soliciting bids and about choosing a vendor from outside Ocean City.

Leon Costello of Ford-Scott & Associates praised Ocean City for maintaining small tax increases and a healthy fund balance despite expenses related to Superstorm Sandy and the sluggish economy. He took special note of how the city operated in the immediate aftermath of Sandy.

The city "should be commended on how it was done rather than criticized on how it was done," Costello said.