WAYNESBORO, Pa. — Calls for the resignation of a Franklin County official are mounting after he was arrested last week for allegedly misusing taxpayer money to pay for home renovations.
Quincy Township Supervisor Kerry Bumbaugh, 56, of Waynesboro, was charged May 26 with seven felony counts and three misdemeanor counts for allegedly misusing roughly $150,000 of taxpayer money.
Bumbaugh claimed a township sewer pipe leak caused damage to a retaining wall on his property, according to a grand jury indictment. However court documents said a check of the pipe revealed no leaks.
Bumbaugh forged a document relating to the alleged water damage in order to receive nearly $100,000 from the township’s insurance company, according to Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Instead of using the stolen funds to demolish and rebuild the wall, Bumbaugh allegedly directed township employees to spend weeks doing the work full-time. He later misdirected tens of thousands of dollars more to re-pave his large driveway, the indictment said.
John and Tina Bumbaugh, who are second cousins of Kerry Bumbaugh, live next door. As their home is downhill from Kerry Bumbaugh’s, they said their house likely would have been damaged by a sewer pipe leak, but the only water damage they reported was from the occasional flooding of a nearby creek.
The couple said they weren’t surprised by the allegations, as they said they have seen Bumbaugh receive personal services from the township for years, like plowing his driveway in the winter.
“It’s pretty much just a running joke whenever something was done to his house, ‘Oh the township must have got another grant,’” John Bumbaugh said.
Community members filled a township board meeting on Tuesday evening, many looking for answers.
Bumbaugh was present at the meeting, having been released from jail on $25,000 bail.
One man publicly asked Bumbaugh to resign in light of the charges.
Others did not speak at the meeting but said Bumbaugh and possibly the other two township supervisors should resign.
“If they knew about it or had any part in it they should be resigning tonight,” said longtime Quincy Township resident Michelle Stull.
Bumbaugh did not address the allegations at the board meeting, though he did join fellow Township Supervisor Bob Gunder in voting to give Gunder nearly $11,000 for unused paid time off. Township solicitor Linus Fenicle explained a procedural rule by which Gunder was able to vote on the measure rather than recuse himself for conflict of interest.
John and Tina Bumbaugh said the charges and continued actions like that vote made them distrust local government. The only path toward rebuilding trust, they said, would be for Kerry Bumbaugh to face the consequences of his actions.
“Him paying the money back would be a start,” John Bumbaugh said.
Kerry Bumbaugh’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 23.