Opinion ID: 6264496
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sheriff’s petty cash fund

Text: The final issue presented involves several surcharges levied against the Sheriff by the Controller in her Annual Financial Report for the year 1984. The surcharges at issue all relate to expenditures by the Sheriff or his deputies, the reimbursements for which were taken from the Sheriff’s Petty Cash fund. 7 The Controller levied the surcharges in question based upon the Sheriff’s failure to provide documentation verifying these expenditures to the satisfaction of the Controller. The trial court dismissed some of these surcharges because it found certain testimony credible and sufficient to explain the expenditure. The Controller argues that an incorrect standard of review was applied by the lower courts. It is her contention that she, alone, has the authority to require documentation in support of any questionable expenditures and that absent a finding that she abused that discretion, the trial court is without power to alter her decision. She cites the following portion of Section 1702(a) of the County Code, 16 P.S. § 1702, in support of her position: The discretionary powers of the Controller shall not be applicable to the management of the fiscal policies of the County Commissioners or to matters not involving the accounts and transactions of officers or other persons of the County, but the Controller shall refuse to authorize any fiscal transaction which is, by law, subject to his supervision or control where it appears that such transaction is not authorized by law ... or to which he desires upon reasonable grounds to investigate ... He may at any time require from any such officers, in writing, an account of all monies or property which may have come within their control. 16 P.S. § 1702(a). In effect, she is arguing that she alone may determine whether an expenditure is appropriate and that the trial court has no power to make any such determination. The Sheriffs petty cash fund contained approximately $500.00. The fund was used to reimburse the Sheriff and/or his deputies for expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties. At times, the funds were given in advance, prior to an expenditure. Any cash not spent would be returned to the fund along with receipts for any expenditures. The Sheriffs office periodically requested the Controller’s Office to reimburse the fund. Receipts were submitted to the Controller who would then approve or disapprove the expenditure. The Controller, at all times relevant to this matter, does not dispute the fact that the Sheriff and his deputies were entitled to be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties. What she does question, however, is whether the funds were expended in the course of their official duties. In dismissing the subject surcharges, the trial court reviewed the evidence presented and found that each of the items were either properly submitted to the Controller or subsequently verified as being expenses incurred in the performance of the Sheriffs or his deputies’ official duties. The trial court was not limited, as the Controller argues, to her findings that the expenses were not sufficiently justified. To so hold would be ludicrous. The Controller’s remedy where she finds that an expense is not justified to her satisfaction is to impose a surcharge which is exactly what she did here. The surcharged official then has a right to appeal from the surcharge to the Court of Common Pleas. 16 P.S. § 1731. Where there is then a factual dispute as to whether the expenditure was proper, the matter is properly placed before the trial court. Here, the trial court found that the documentation provided by the Sheriff’s office or the testimony presented was sufficient to verify that the expense in question was necessary and performed in the course of official duty. After reviewing the record, we cannot find that the trial court abused its discretion. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of those surcharges against the Sheriff as amended by the trial court in its consideration of post-trial motions. Accordingly, that portion of the Commonwealth Court’s Order dismissing the surcharges imposed as a result of the Felice, Bedway, R.B.A., SAMS, and Aptech contracts and the Sheriff’s petty cash fund is affirmed. LARSEN, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision in this matter.