State Senate Leadership ‘Outraged’ By West Haven Audit Findings

WEST HAVEN, CT — The state senate Democratic leadership is calling for increased oversight by the state’s Municipal Accountability Review Board over West Haven’s finances after an independent audit found the city misspent nearly $893,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

The audit, which was conducted by CohnReznick LLP and commissioned by the Office of Policy and Management, concluded that about 80 percent of the city's $1.15 million COVID relief funds "should have been disallowed," according to a news release.

On Thursday, State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, State Senator James Maroney (D-Milford, Orange, West Haven, and Woodbridge), and State Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven and West Haven) released the following statement in response to the audit:

"We are outraged by the findings of the recent audit of West Haven's spending of federal CARES Act funding. We expect that increased oversight by the state's Municipal Accountability Review Board will significantly limit local spending discretion and provide much-needed change and accountability. Mayor Rossi and West Haven city government must ensure that those responsible for fiscal mismanagement are held accountable. The hard-working people of West Haven deserve better."