Erie County has a new e-mail address and telephone line for reporting waste, fraud and abuse in county government.

They are whistleblower@erie.gov and 858-7722. Or tipsters can still use the anonymous form found on the erie.gov Web site, after clicking on the link for the county comptroller’s office.

“We will review every one of the tips we receive,” Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz said Tuesday when announcing the new methods.

The comptroller’s office receives about 20 tips a year, or perhaps two a month, he said.

“We are receiving more tips lately because people see that when we get a tip, we research it. We do check it out,” he said.

His auditors last year read an anonymous letter about an employee who seemed to be home during his work day. The auditors confirmed the parks department employee would punch in to work, go home, go back to work to punch out for lunch, then once clocked back in, go home again.

Poloncarz said the employee was disciplined but not fired by aides to then-County Executive Joel A. Giambra.

Callers who use the tip line during the day will get the chief auditor, Michael Szukala. Szukala said he will not have caller ID on that line.

mspina@buffnews.com

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