LINCOLN — The village of Litchfield in central Nebraska “boasts a whopping 280 people,” according to its website, which goes on to say that the small-town atmosphere contributes to a high quality of life.  

But a Nebraska State Auditor’s Office probe into village operations has disrupted the calm, revealing apparent misappropriation of public funds, inaccurate utility billings and lack of documentation.

An upshot was the resignation a week ago of the village clerk, whose “improper pecuniary benefits” were a focus of the report released Wednesday.

Auditor Mike Foley, when releasing results, zeroed in on fiduciary responsibilities despite the size of a municipality. He said that “for various reasons” proper financial controls can sometimes be “less vigorous” among smaller political subdivisions.

“But the consequences of such insufficient fiscal oversight may be just as devastating, if not more so, to those less-populous communities and their local taxpayers as to their larger counterparts,” Foley said in a media release.

Clerk and hair salon owner

A 21-page letter to the Litchfield village board detailed findings of the state auditor’s team, which looked into the village’s finances following complaints of alleged financial improprieties by the village clerk, identified in the report as Julie Miller.

Hired as clerk in November 2022, Miller was empowered with oversight and control over village financial and utility billing processes, including processing payroll payments for herself and other employees of the village.

The report said Miller also owns a hair salon next to the village office. She was hired initially to work 20 hours a week as clerk but was authorized two months later to begin working additional hours, which were recorded as “overtime” for which she received twice her regular $15-an-hour wage.

The audit team said that change was made after Miller said her clerk duties were taking more than the agreed upon 20 hours a week and causing her to lose wages at her salon business. To account for those lost wages, the village board voted to pay her twice the normal rate for time worked past 20 hours.

It was meant to be temporary until she had received training, according to the report. But, the auditors said she was still getting the overtime rate some eight months later, even after an assistant clerk was hired.

Miller reportedly received $18,524 in “overtime” pay in eight months. One check showed she was paid $525 for one hour of overtime, the report said, noting that she did not provide an explanation.

The team reported that Miller submitted conflicting timesheets, leaving the team unable to determine when she was working and if she was paid the correct amount.

For the period examined, the Litchfield municipality was unable to provide all timesheets or other documentation to support all hours “supposedly” worked by its employees, including Miller, the team said. 

The village board did not appear to be approving payroll wages during its monthly meetings, the report said.

“Much of the blame for these problematic expenditures,” Foley said, “lies with the failure of the Village to implement proper payroll procedures.…”

Walmart purchase

The audit team also was critical of Miller’s $97.89 purchase at a Walmart on July 4, 2023, with a city purchasing card. The audit team was able to obtain, through a “receipt lookup” website, a listing of items purchased (including clothing, charcoal and a kiddie pool) that did not jibe with what she said she had bought.

According to the report, that situation pointed to apparent unauthorized expenditure of village funds for personal benefit. The audit team said the village lacked a written policy regarding purchasing cards.

“Though troubling, the problems found with the Village’s purchasing card could have been much worse, but they serve as a cautionary tale nonetheless,” Foley said.

The report noted additional deficiencies in village operations, including a lack of supporting documentation for other expenses, inaccurate utility customer billings, payment of late fees and failure to provide timely responses to the auditor’s requests for information.

A response by the Village Board, included in the audit letter, said that in addition to accepting Miller’s resignation, the governing board proposed to implement a host of changes that respond to the auditor team’s findings.

Those include a time clock to better track employee hours, a different review process for payroll, a more stringent oversight of purchasing cards and reimbursement of expenses and more.

Foley said he believes Litchfield can “right the ship,”

“I have no doubt that it can be done, much to the benefit of the municipality as a whole and the taxpayers who pay for its operations.…”

After persuading Dylan Raiola to switch his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska, all that’s left is to hang the banner in the Hawks Center to crown the Huskers the 2024 off-season champions.

With Raiola’s potential to shatter every Nebraska passing record and Rhule adding two new pass catchers, Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor, the 2024 season looks promising. The return of Heinrich Haarberg, the 2023 leading passer, further adds depth to the offense. Whether he plays as a Taysom Hill-type gadget player or a Tim Tebow-esque goal-line QB, his presence will be felt. Nebraska gets an excellent opportunity to start its season on the right note against an opponent who hired a new coach.

I’ll frequently mention Expected Points Added (EPA), which is one stat I’ll cite in my pregame and post-game articles. For a given down, distance, and field position, both teams have a probability of scoring the next points in the game (the expected points). After the play, the teams have a new down, distance, and field position, resulting in a new expected points value. The difference in expected points before and after the play is Expected Points Added. This metric is stated with respect to the offense.

A positive EPA play has improved the offense’s chances of scoring the next points. A negative EPA play has improved the defense’s chance of scoring next. While assigning all the credit for EPA to the QB on a passing play isn’t perfect (after all, ten other players contributed to the play’s success), it does give us a way to rank the performance of skill position players against others in terms of who makes plays that contribute to winning.

As soon as Dylan Raiola committed to Nebraska, it was presumed he would be the starter. He’s potentially a generational player who at least dresses like Patrick Mahomes and will hopefully play like him. Since he’s yet to play a college snap, the graph below shows Heinrich Haarberg’s 2023 cumulative season EPA. The total EPA graph is a running total of all plays where the QB ran the ball, passed the ball, or took a sack. If the line goes up, the QB was involved in a play that helped his team’s scoring chances. However, if the line goes down, that play hurts the team’s chances of scoring (and increases the opponent’s chances).

UTEP’s Cade McConnell and Nebraska’s Heinrich Haarberg struggled in 2023, finishing with a negative EPA. This means that the total contributions during the season hindered scoring points. In 2024, I don’t expect this to be the case for Dylan Raiola. I predict he’ll finish the season with 3,000 yards passing and 30 touchdowns. Nine players in 2023 accomplished 3000 and 30, and four of the nine were taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Hitting those benchmarks in his freshman season would clearly indicate his elite pedigree.

The carry distribution in the chart below goes beyond the simple “rushing average” statistic. A player with 10 carries each for 4 yards and a player with one carry for 35 yards and nine carries for 5 yards both have a rushing average of 4 YPC, but their distribution of carries would look widely different. The black vertical, dashed line represents carries of 0 yards. The two quarterbacks on the table have a significant peak of negative yards since sacks count against their rushing totals. The goldenrod vertical, dashed line represents carries of 10 yards (a first down). Emmet Johnson, for example, would consistently get positive yards but would rarely break big runs of 10+ yards.

In addition to being the Huskers leading passer in 2023, Heinrich Haarberg was the leading rusher. However, Haarberg’s rushing EPA was also negative, thanks to many sacks and negative carries. Fortunately, I expect fewer QB carries in 2024, but I could still see Haarberg getting some work as a power runner near the goal line. Emmett Johnson consistently had positive carries in 2023, while Gabe Ervin flashed some big play upside in limited availability.

UTEP doesn’t return much rushing production from its 2023 team after its top two rushers from last season entered the portal. The new head coach, Scotty Walden, brings in his leading rusher from 2023, Jevon Jackson, who rushed for 1300 yards at Austin Peay. He’s joined by TCU transfer Corey Wren, who also played at Florida State.

This upcoming game is a crucial opportunity for Dylan Raiola to gain valuable experience in full-speed college football before the significant week two matchup with Colorado. I anticipate a comfortable win for Nebraska. My prediction for the season is a conservative 7-5 finish and a return to a bowl game. I expect Raiola to face some challenges as a freshman and make a few mistakes that might cost the Huskers a game or two; I also believe his natural talent will keep Nebraska competitive against even the most formidable opponents on the schedule.

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Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

Nebraska football coaching legend Tom Osborne opens up about what he sees from second-year Husker football coach Matt Rhule, expectations for Nebraska this fall and quarterback Dylan Raiola’s high ceiling. Coach Osborne offers an honest take on Deion Sanders’ coaching style, and he also surprised us all with a very strong response on a question about Tommie Frazier. Dr. Tom also has a new book on leadership. A can’t-miss interview.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.