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Stolen gas. Excessive salaries. Ghost employees.

Now, a new crisis haunts Salt Lake County. And it involves the rank and file.

An explosive audit obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune reveals rampant abuse of the county's Tuition Assistance Program.

Since 1992, the county paid 75 percent of college tuition for thousands of employees as long as they maintained a C average. They got the money in their regular paychecks. Trouble is, hundreds dropped the courses and then took years to repay the interest-free money. Others quit their county jobs altogether without making any reimbursements. One even left a handwritten "IOU."

Estimated loss to taxpayers: at least $100,000.

"It's a bad deal. It smells," said Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore, who vowed to scuttle the program and rebuild it.

Auditor Sean Thomas said his investigative team was surprised by the scope of the "mess."

"This thing was a Pandora's box," he said Friday. "An employee who wanted to work the system could use it as an ongoing personal loan program."

In light of the findings, the auditor's office recommended that the county shift to a reimbursement program, which was in place before 1992. Employees would receive tuition payments only after successfully completing their courses. A study of 33 other counties showed 24 offer tuition reimbursements. None made payments in advance.

"We have a program that is abnormal," Thomas said. "It doesn't make sense."

The mayor's office wants to toughen the rules even more by requiring employees to earn at least a B grade to qualify for reimbursement. It also wants workers who quit within two years of taking a class - up from one year - to repay the county for the reimbursement.

Personnel Director Felix McGowan was caught off-guard by the audit.

"Now that we realize there's holes, we're going to fix it," he said. "We were, unfortunately, too loose."

McGowan sent a letter to the auditor Friday promising changes will be made by April 30.

When auditors launched their probe in November 2004, they were told everything was "running smoothly," according to auditor Cherylann Johnson. "We found a different story."

From 1994 to 2000, 364 employees did not provide proof they completed their course work with a passing grade. Some dropped classes for unknown or personal reasons, while others failed to submit grades. All were supposed to reimburse the money, but many paid only a portion.

Applicants received the school money with their paychecks - in some cases nearly three months before the semesters began - and often showed no proof of registration. Some were paid twice for the same class.

A sampling of cases from 2002-2004 revealed more than $15,500 never was reimbursed by applicants who neglected to turn in their report cards.

The county receives about 700 tuition applications a year, ranging from new employees to appointed officials. Since 1999, it has doled out an annual average of $350,000 - presumably for tuition. "When this finally reached the risk exposure of $2.1 million [per year] it popped up on our screen," Thomas said. "This thing's full of gems."

Like:

* Three appointed officials had more than $3,500 in tuition debt forgiven by former Mayor Nancy Workman. "The waivers were all provided verbally, without even a memo to the file as backup," the audit says.

* Post-Its were found in employee tuition files with scrawled notes such as "needs more time," "will bring in check," and "dropped math; owes $355.34."

At least 20 reimbursement cases have been turned over to the district attorney for collection since 2001.

Much of the problem hinged on an overburdened personnel office. Sloppy paperwork, delinquent letters and a lack of oversight placed the county in the role of a "de facto finance company," the audit states.

While employees are entitled to $3,000 for tuition in a given year, many netted outside financial aid and failed to report it.

"They should check that," said Teresa Howes, an Aging Services employee, who takes evening communication courses but submits her paperwork on time. "I thought there was a way to track it."

Wen Walters, another county employee, fears the abuses will make it harder for honest workers to take college classes. "A few people are going to make it stiffer for the rest of us," she said.

But government watchdog Claire Geddes was appalled the county pays for school at all.

"This is just one more example of how out of control the guidelines are at the county," she said. "This is ludicrous."

Utah and Davis counties scrapped their tuition-payment plans.

State employees are compensated for course work, though the standards are determined by individual agencies.

"Most offer a reimbursement because they want to see the class is passed," said Jean Mills-Barber, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Resource Management.

Salt Lake County Councilman Jim Bradley said taking advantage of a system designed to help the employee is "outrageous." "Those who owe us money better get in gear and pay us back."