A Florida chief inspector general report on travel expenses at the state's last-resort insurer concludes that such expenses incurred by Citizens' board, management and employees — while compliant with written policies — are "excessive by state standards," and recommends that Citizens be required to follow state-travel laws.

The report was undertaken at the request of Governor Rick Scott after the Miami Herald published an article on Aug. 25, 2012 charging that "executives at the state-run company have been living large at the same time they are asking hard-pressed Florida property owners to pay more for insurance." The articles cited examples of executives staying in luxury hotels, eating at expensive restaurants, and purportedly violating company policy by using corporate credit cards for personal expenses and to purchase alcoholic beverages.

The inspector general calls Citizens' travel expense policy "insufficient," stating that two sets of policies — one enacted in 2005 for employees and one enacted in 2006 for board members and senior management — "improperly delegate the responsibility for controlling expenditures and maintaining adherence to the policy to the individual rather than to the individual and management."

Citing further shortcomings, the report says the 2006 policy, while stating that expenses should be reasonable and appropriate, fails to specify conditions for making such a determination. Additionally, an updated policy in 2012 is unclear as to whether it applies to employees only or also to senior managers.

The report continues that Citizens also lacks sufficient controls to "ensure adequate oversight of travel and travel-related expenses incurred by board members, senior managers and employees." The inspector general says the review determined that Citizens "did not require sufficient detail to ascertain whether travel or expense information reported was complete," and that travelers were allowed to file multiple expense reports for a single trip, "making it difficult to avoid duplicate charges or detect errors or fraud."

The report outlines several expenses incurred that fell outside state travel laws, but noted that Citizens was not required to follow such laws. In one example, the report says Citizens' chairman was reimbursed for lodging expenses in Tallahassee that exceeded the negotiated room rate suggested for employees. "We found no explanation or documentation to explain why the higher lodging costs were incurred," the report says.

In an additional example, the report says Citizens' chief financial officer incurred expenses to stay in hotels with per-night rates ranging from $289 to $539 — and one expense in Zurich, Switzerland of $289 for a six-hour "day use" hotel room.

In another case, the CFO upgraded a $459 per-night deluxe room in Bermuda to "gold" status, bumping the rate up to $633 per-night for a three-day stay. "We noted the [CFO] checked into the hotel on a Friday for a Monday meeting," the report says, adding there were no written explanations for the added costs or additional nights.

The report concludes, "We recommend that Citizens' travel policies be updated to reflect [that] state-travel laws apply to board members, senior managers and all employees. We also recommend that Citizens enhance their internal controls to address the findings contained in this report."

In response, Gov. Scott says, "I requested this IG report to ensure Citizens is held to the highest standards of accountability and transparency, and it is clear from the IG's findings that Citizens is in urgent need of four reforms."

Listing reforms he wants to see, Scott says, "First, Citizens should immediately change their travel guidelines to comply with official state travel restrictions. Second, Citizens board members must immediately change their travel policy to prohibit any international travel. Third, the Citizens travel policy should be further tightened to only allow essential employees to attend board meetings in order to eliminate excessive expenses. Finally, as I have previously said, Citizens needs its own independent statutory IG to enforce existing rules, and the additional reforms it is clear they need to make."

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater adds in a statement, "This culture of excess and poor judgment is unacceptable, and Floridians deserve better. I applaud the work of the governor's inspector general and support her recommendations, including implementing the most stringent travel standards."

Citizens' President, CEO and Executive Director Barry Gilway released a statement responding to the report. "We have reviewed the report's findings and recommendations and agree that, as guardians of public funds, we must hold ourselves to a more rigorous standard," Gilway says. "Last October, when questions regarding Citizens employee and board travel expenses first came to light, I implemented a more stringent travel policy that applies to all Citizens employees and senior management. As recommended in the report, Citizens will further tighten our policy to better comply with state travel standards and reporting requirements. By acting in the most fiscally prudent manner possible, we hope to begin restoring the public confidence in our ability to better serve as sound financial guardians for our policyholders and all Florida taxpayers."

Special Reports /

Florida Inspector General Report Hits Citizens for Excessive Travel Expenses

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