The Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) evaluated the complaint and referred the matter to the Auditor of State’s West Region for further evaluation. The city’s financial audit is ongoing and the complaint is part of this, the office said.
When the Auditor of State receives a complaint, it is reviewed by the SIU to determine if it is in the office’s jurisdiction, if it contains enough evidence of “potential crimes that warrant the opening of a preliminary audit and investigation,” or if it should be reviewed in the course of a regular financial audit, the office said.
Springfield Finance Director Katie Eviston said the city follows “the golden rule in local government of proper public purpose” when considering travel. She said the Auditor of State considered this, too, when looking at the travel forms.
In response to some who have said the Paris airshow was unnecessary when the Dayton one is so close, Eviston said the two are vastly different, with the Dayton one being a family-friendly show bringing aviation to the community. She said the Paris show is more of a showcase of cutting-edge aerospace technology, “which is what we’re talking about with the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport as we look at eVTOL and advancing technologies there.”
Springfield’s National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence (NAAMCE) was completed last year next to the terminal at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. The two-story, 30,000-square-foot office building is home to administrative, laboratory, meeting and collaboration space and includes 25,000 square feet of aircraft hangar space for the Air Force and private industry.
The $9.1 million project was mostly funded by state and national partners, with the city putting in about $500,000. The state-of-the-art facility is funded through partnerships with the Department of Defense, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
According to documents obtained through a public records request, both City Manager Bryan Heck and Assistant City Manager Tom Franzen took the trip to Paris, with plane tickets totaling just more than $3,100. Heck stayed at Le Belmont Champs Elysees hotel for six nights from June 18, 2023 to June 24, 2023 for $2,180, according to documents.
Heck signed his approval of his travel request and expense report as department director, and Eviston approved it as finance director. Heck again approved it as city manager.
Eviston said the Auditor of State “immediately engaged” the city’s independent public accountant (IPA) who completes its annual audit and the city provided information that was requested.
“The Auditor of State has let our IPA know that they’ve completed their review; there were no findings for recovery,” Eviston said. “No compliance issues were identified and to our knowledge, the Auditor of State has closed the matter.”
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