Questioned Cost: $0

Or, How to Pretend a Receiptless Credit Card Isn’t a Problem

Nov 07, 2025

On September 29, 2025, the public finally got a look at the long-awaited financial review by Todd Watkins of Todd Watkins Consulting Services, LLC — an investigation into payroll, accounts payable, and credit card use at Hot Springs School District.

And when it came to the credit card charges, here’s what stood out — or rather, what didn’t.

Let’s talk about one of the most bizarre and telling sections in the district’s recently released financial investigation that is shown above.

Questioned Cost: $0

That’s right. Zero dollars.

Despite the fact that the report explicitly states:

“It appeared the school’s BMO credit card was in fact used personally by Carmen Jackson.”
Mentions coffee shop runs, Amazon purchases, fuel, and propane
Follows with “I was unable to verify [these charges] as appropriate District transactions.”
And adds:
“I was not able to review any hard copy credit card receipts on file at the District.”

Let’s stop right there.

Where. Are. The. Receipts?

Were receipts never collected?
Were they lost in a drawer?
Was the investigator blocked from reviewing them?
Or was this just outside the scope of a 3-month investigation?

Or maybe… the District’s filing system is just a black lab named Fido. (Hey, students claim dogs eat homework—why not receipts too?)

The report doesn’t say.

But we’re somehow expected to accept that:

Personal charges were made
Receipts are nowhere to be found
No one can say if the charges were work-related or not
And still…

“Questioned Cost = $0”

No Receipts? Every Dollar Is a Questioned Cost

Here’s what the law and common sense agree on:

If you can’t prove a public purchase was for public use,

If there are no receipts,

If you admit the card was used personally,

If the transactions are “possibly reimbursed”,

Then the cost is not $0 — it’s every dollar in question.

Enough Excuses. It’s Time for a Full Forensic Audit.

We are calling for a formal, independent, forensic audit — not a friendly Kaleva Law appointed consultant doing a surface-level pass. We know about those already. Perhaps law enforcement will bear the brunt of this, but if not, it needs to happen regardless. How about it Trustees? Got time from away from trying to convince the public you’re finally interested in the proper handling and display of “Old Glory” after taking no action for a couple years, or of scapegoating Clerk Barkley who wasn’t even appointed until that investigation had run it course, to request a formal, independent, forensic audit?

The “review” the District commissioned was never meant to uncover the full truth — and it shows. No receipts. No verification. No accountability. And somehow, “Questioned Cost: $0”.

The public didn’t ask for a soft review.

We asked: Where did the money go?

And we’re still waiting for real answers.

When credit cards were used for personal purchases…
When receipts can’t be found…
When documentation is missing, incomplete, or contradictory…
And when it takes over a year (and legal pressure) to release public records…

That’s not just sloppiness. That’s a red flag waving in full view of the taxpayers.
In fact, it’s time to ask them to catalog and release every receipt they’ve got.

In fairness, from a technical, liability-avoidance standpoint, ‘Questioned Cost: $0’, makes some sense because the investigator could not prove with certainty that the purchases resulted in personal financial gain at taxpayer expense. Why? Because their were no receipts, no records, no evidence trail, no oversight. And the same folks responsible for the oversight of the mess (AKA School Board and Superintendent), wanted it to all go away, and didn’t want to spend money to let him really do a quality job.

Watchdogs Found the Trail

Diligent Watchdogs had figured out exactly where to look, and finally obtained three years of BMO credit card statements from the District.

And we didn’t need a forensic team to find something fishy.

One obvious example:

$1,750 purchase at CHS Mountain West Co-op on 6/12 (see included BMO statement below)
That same charge appears on a personal CHS statement that was obtained via a public information request that showed personal purchases (see included CHS statement below)
COORS LIGHT? Chewing Tobacco? Livestock Meds? That’s not smoke — that’s fire!

In August 2024, Scott Viegut formally requested records of the District’s credit card usage and expenditures. The District provided some, but ignored providing more for an entire year — only producing the three years of BMO credit card statements after Viegut’s attorney had to get involved.

A Timeline of Obstruction

For those just tuning in: the original August 2024 request wasn’t vague or complicated. Well, maybe it did ramble a little, but it clearly asked for the following…

The request went to the Clerk, Superintendent, and every Trustee
The District acknowledged it — and billed for it
Some information was provided, but it was not complete.
And then… the District had Kaleva Law send a ‘cease and desist’ type letter, even though the District had obviously not provided all the requested information.
When Viegut persisted, they wanted to charge him $2000+ more!
Then nothing more got delivered until almost a year had passed from the original request.
Only after Viegut’s attorney stepped in, did the records begin to trickle out

Even now, the District has not delivered the full information requested.

At this point, you have to wonder — do they even realize they’re walking straight into the territory of Official Misconduct, Trustee Neglect of Duty, and flat-out violations of Montana’s public records laws?

Or maybe… they do realize it.

And maybe that’s exactly why it took them so long to forward the Todd Watkins investigation to law enforcement. And maybe that’s why Clerk Barkley Flynn was terminated as a distraction.

Funny how slow things move when the evidence might bounce back and hit the boardroom.
Former District Clerk Carmen had a scanner, so receipts should be available linked to warrants in the District’s accounting package, Black Mountain Software. Are the receipt there? Time to request the receipts! Why didn’t the Trustees request the receipts? Did nobody ever ensure that the receipts were there for past years?

Check out the receipts below. And Remember, “ASK FOR AND DEMAND RECEIPTS!”