The Montgomery County Council will consider establishing stricter oversight measures for a taxpayer-funded tuition program that is being investigated for potential fraud, according to Council President Phil Andrews.
Andrews told The Examiner that he will “ensure” that the council takes a close look at how employees are awarded up to $1,730 in tuition assistance.
The County Attorney’s Office is investigating the program to see whether one company, Applied Sciences for Public Safety, used county funds to sell guns to public safety employees at a steep discount. Officials also are looking into whether more than 100 county employees tried to sign up for upcoming classes with the intention of using county money to buy a sniper rifle for less than half its normal price.
Andrews said the council had planned to look at the tuition assistance program before the county’s investigation was started, but added that the investigation reinforced the need to monitor the program.
One area the council will focus on, Andrews said, is whether members of the police and firefighters unions should continue to be able to sign up for tuition assistance without the approval of their supervisors. Other county employees need the approval of their supervisor before the county’s human resources department will approve the tuition assistance.
Police and firefighters need only the approval of the human resources department. That lack of oversight may be the “weak link” in the tuition assistance program, according to Assistant County Attorney Chris Hinrichs.
“It’s one of many provisions that have come out of the collective bargaining process that is problematic,” said Andrews, who has sparred with the police union over a number of issues, including proposed reforms to the county’s disability pension pay.
Union officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Human Resources Director Joseph Adler said the police union negotiated several years ago and the firefighters union asked for the same benefit during the last bargaining session, arguing that firefighters on 24-hour shifts sometimes had difficulty getting the approval of their supervisor in time to sign up for classes.
County officials said 32 firefighters had signed up to take a class with Applied Sciences for Public Safety this fiscal year.
Sheriff Raymond Kight’s office began investigating classes offered by Applied Sciences for Public Safety last week over questions of whether public funds were being used to discount the guns. The county has suspended all applications to take courses with the company pending a result of its investigation.
The company has denied using county funds to subsidize selling guns, according to a county spokesman.
