CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — An audit in St. Louis County is raising hackles there.

The county was apparently was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on new vehicles for the parks system even as workers were being laid off due to budget constraints.

 

The internal audit of the county parks department also found $129,000 in bond funds that had been sitting dormant in bank accounts for decades.

The St. Louis County Council ordered the audit in January after County Executive Charlie Dooley laid off 26 full-time workers in the public works and parks departments.

County Council Chairman Mike O’Mara was critical of the administration for what he called putting equipment over livelihoods.