ORLANDO, Fla. — An audit from the comptroller’s office reports that Orange County paid unreasonably high rates for a program that taught senior citizens how to effectively use technology, including smartphones and Microsoft Word and Excel.
The audit, released Thursday morning, examined the “sole-source” contract awarded to From the Heart Charitable Foundation in February 2023.
According to the audit, Orange County was supposed to pay $1,600 per class participant for eight hours of instruction, which included $1,525 for class time and $75 for materials. Per the agreement, the county would not pay the full amount if the student did not finish the class.
The sign-in sheets for the class showed 162 students attended at least one session across eight community centers, but a further examination uncovered low attendance and participation at many of the sessions.
Based on the attendance, the comptroller’s investigators determined From the Heart should have only received $148,637.50 – an overpayment of $101,362.50.
However, auditors said the contract itself was an overpayment. Library staff were available and capable to teach similar courses at an hourly rate of $15 to $27. If the maximum rate were applied, auditors determined the class would have only cost $432 for instruction time per student instead of $1,600.
Furthermore, they said the parks department has also offered these types of courses using an outside company within the past year. They said the cost of those courses was at most $15 per attendee.
Auditors estimated the total overpayment to be north of $200,000 based on those figures.
County staff were criticized for appearing to hammer out the contract with From the Heart before any formal request for quotes was published. According to emails obtained by the auditors, staff in the Community Action Division said they were close to completing the terms of the contract with “Kietta” in February 2022, a month before the county’s request for quotes was sent to potential vendors.
Despite a different company responding to the request for quotes, staff designated the contract as “sole-source,” meaning no other vendors were available to provide the service.
“Kietta” refers to Kietta Mayweather Gamble Bracy, the wife of former state Rep. Randolph Bracy, who runs the organization.
By phone Thursday, Gamble Bracy said there were multiple issues with the auditors’ findings. She challenged the timeline and existence of the other companies and agreed to provide proof during a follow-up conversation scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
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