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Ogden Valley City Fraud Hotline

Introduction

The Ogden Valley City Hotline provides an avenue for citizens, including public employees and contractors, to report improper governmental activities, including:

  • Fraud, waste, or abuse of public funds or resources.
  • Violations of federal, state, or local laws, regulations, or policies.
  • Misuse of government property or equipment.
  • Conflicts of interest, unethical conduct, or abuse of authority.
  • Any other improper governmental activity or misconduct.

Filing a Complaint

Complaints should be submitted in writing using the attached form. Complainants should also submit any evidence that supports the complaint. Essential information includes specifics on ‘who, what, where, when’ as well as any other details that may be important such as information on other witnesses, documents, and pertinent evidence. Due to limited resources Ogden Valley City is unable to accept complaints that are not supported by evidence or provide a means for us to investigate the problem further.  At a minimum, please use the form as a guide to ensure the necessary information is provided. Submit complaints via the following methods:

Email: fraud@ogdenvalley.gov

Mail: Ogden Valley City, PO Box 6, Eden UT, 84310

Entity Processing of a Hotline Complaint

  1. After receiving the complaint, the fraud committee will review the allegation and any evidence provided by the complainant. The list below represents some of the factors that are considered during the screening and prioritization process.
    1. Does the complaint involve actions by a person subject to Ogden Valley City’s authority?
    2. Does the complaint pertain to improper governmental activities? Disagreements with management decisions or actions taken by elected officials that are within the law will not be investigated.
    3. Has the complainant taken appropriate steps to resolve the issue with the entity? If the entity is not responsive, the concern relates to top management, or the complainant desires anonymity, consideration will be increased.
    4. What is the timing and frequency of alleged improper activity? Allegations of improper activities that are recent and/or on-going may receive a higher priority.
    5. Should the allegation be investigated by another entity? Are there other agencies that have oversight of the complaint? Is a member of the governing body being accused?
    6. Can the complaint be efficiently and effectively investigated? Overly broad or vague complaints or complaints where evidence is unavailable may be declined or receive a low priority.
  2. The Finance Director communicates to the Fraud Committee:
    1. The allegation of the complaint
    2. Any facts supporting or refuting the complaint
    3. A recommendation based upon preliminary inquiry
  3. Fraud Committee decides the appropriate next action (if a member of the Fraud Committee is the subject of the complaint, they may not be included in this process):
    1. Discontinue the investigation
    2. Continue with the investigation
    3. Refer the investigation to another agency
  4. If the investigation proceeds, the fraud committee sets the following:
    1. Time and resource budget
    2. Scope of the audit
  5. Council Member over Finance completes the audit
  6. Council Member over Finance creates a report outlining the work performed and conclusions
  7. Council Member over Finance provides the report to the Fraud Committee
  8. Fraud Committee reports investigation results to the whole governing body
  9. Governing body addresses any findings noted in the report

Whistleblower Protection

Utah Code § 67-21-3 prohibits public employers from taking adverse action against their employees for reporting government waste or violations of law in good faith, to the appropriate authorities. A public entity employee, public body employee, legislative employee, or judicial employee, is presumed to have communicated in good faith if they have given written notice or otherwise formally communicated the conduct to the entity (see Utah Code § 67-21-3(1)(b)(iv)(A) for more information).

Confidentiality

The identity of the complainant is considered protected information under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) and will be kept confidential if requested by the complainant. (See Utah Code Section 67-3-1(15)).

Complaints may be submitted anonymously to the Hotline. However, it is preferable that the complainant provide their name and contact information to allow for follow-up questions and reporting the results back to the complainant. Whistleblower protections do not apply to anonymous complaints.

Fraud Form to fill out to email or mail:

Fraud Form