Recorder probe halts data project

Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott cut corners and saved hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, and when he tried to decide how to spend it, he sparked an investigation. Now the county is refusing to pay more for the project he started until an audit is complete.

The Salt Lake County Council voted Tuesday to delay the next payment for an off-site data backup system arranged by Ott.

The recorder says he was just being a good fiscal manager by saving $425,000 in personnel costs in 2004 and using that money to pay for an off-site data management system for the county. However, the County Council must approve all major budget adjustments, and Ott did not obtain that approval. The county auditor is investigating the entire project and budgeting process to see if Ott followed county contracting policies.

"It's not his money," Councilman Joe Hatch said Tuesday. "It's the public money and it's not up to him to spend it any way he wants."

The problems began in late 2004, when Ott used roughly $100,000 of the money saved in personnel costs to pay for an off-site Web server, according to financial documents obtained by the Deseret Morning News through a Government Records Access and Management Act request.

To date, the county has already paid AlphaCorp $207,750 for the technology, although a long-term contract was never signed. The only documentation for the project is a quote proposal with an unsigned letter attached, stating the county will end up paying an additional $230,000 over the course of four years for the project.

"I have yet to find a single incidence of this record where the council has budgeted for or approved a long-term contract for these services — period," Hatch said.

Ott says he did nothing wrong but is willing to work with the County Council to resolve any contracting and budgeting issues.

"Remember what I've done since I've been in office," Ott told the council Tuesday. "My second month here I was able to cut back staff. I consistently work for a better, cleaner government."

To underscore his faith in his record, Ott registered as a candidate Tuesday to run for re-election this fall.

Ott's office originally hired AlphaCorp after a public request for proposals in 1996 to scan documents into electronic form. Since then, the original contract has been amended several times, giving the business more money to perform other jobs without allowing other companies to bid for the new work.