A new audit of Erie Community College's finances is highly critical of the compensation paid to top school officials and calls for changes to the college's payroll and purchasing practices.

The college should limit the pay and benefits of ECC President William J. Mariani -- who earns $185,498 per year -- and other high-ranking staff and tighten its bookkeeping procedures, the audit released Wednesday by the Erie County comptroller's office states.

"I am pleased that the college accepted many of our recommendations . . . and has already implemented a number of changes in their systems to correct the deficiencies our audit uncovered," Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz said in a statement.

In response, ECC officials defended the school's operations.

"The college is extremely pleased that the report found no substantial financial or administrative deficiencies for an institution that has an $85 million budget," Mariani said in a statement issued by spokeswoman Katharine Felschow.

Last year, county legislators blasted ECC for the pay raises given to Mariani and top staffers. ECC receives $15.4 million per year, or 19 percent of its budget, from the county.

The audit, which covers the period 2003 through 2005, makes a series of recommendations that range from the controversial to the mundane.

Notably, the auditors contend that Mariani was overpaid $4,525 and received unwarranted compensatory time because of "confusing and vague provisions" in his contract.

ECC did not provide the comptroller's office any time-sheet records that document why Mariani was granted thousands of dollars in comp time, the audit states.

Senior executive staff members at ECC are barred from receiving comp time, and auditors maintain that policy should apply to Mariani.

Mariani has offered to repay the $4,525. But ECC officials insisted to the auditors that Mariani's contract entitles him to thousands of dollars in comp time as a form of deferred pay.

Felschow said Mariani was out of the office Wednesday afternoon and would not comment on his pay and benefits.

The audit also is critical of the pay and benefits provided to top managers at the college, especially considering the county's dire fiscal straits.

Compared with senior staff in county government, top college administrators received larger raises, pay less out of their own pockets toward health care and enjoy a more generous policy covering sick days and extended sick leave, the audit found.

ECC's top budget officer defended the compensation of senior administrators, as have ECC trustees, and questioned why this issue took up so much of the audit.

"I think the report, how it came out, seemed to focus on the president's compensation and [senior executive staff] compensation," said William D. Reuter, chief administrative and financial officer.

The audit highlighted areas where ECC can improve oversight of payroll and purchasing practices, though the report found transactions "were generally accurate and were properly authorized."

The audit found that a few employees received duplicate pay; the college wasn't sufficiently tracking whether paychecks got in the right hands; ECC officials may not be following proper bidding procedures on all purchases; and the college systemically fails to record every fixed asset -- items worth more than $500 -- it holds.

The errors added up to $645, the audit states, an amount Reuter termed "immaterial."

ECC told the auditors it had fixed or would fix those problems.

But Reuter questioned the true value of the $593,295 in potential savings outlined in the report, saying it was in some cases unrealistic.

For example, he said any effort to charge rent to the ECC Foundation and the Auxiliary Services Corp. for the campus space they use would hurt the agencies' missions.

Dr. James G. Corasanti, chairman of ECC's board of trustees, and County Executive Joel A. Giambra had not read the audit and would reserve comment until they had, assistants to the two men said Wednesday.

ECC has 30 days to submit a detailed response to the audit to the County Legislature.

Copyright 2006 - The Buffalo News