Case of missing 'Libby Bucks' closed for now

By JOHN BLODGETT

The Western News

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for now has closed the case of the missing “Libby Bucks,” unable to prove how many of the Libby Area Chamber of Commerce $10 certificates went missing or how they went missing.

A lack of tracking sales of the certificates, which the Chamber sells to promote spending at its members’ businesses, is why, said Under Sheriff Brian Griffeth.

“We can’t prove one thing or another without any records,” Griffeth said. “(The Chamber is) pretty sure they are missing, but they can’t determine how many.”

“Unfortunately, we knew that was going to be the case when this began and we realized there was an issue,” Chamber President Amber Pacheco-Holm said via email. “But, we took the steps we felt were necessary to try to rescue the program, and I think we have got a good start of that.”

The Chamber now has a tracking system in place, which it established late last year about the same time it discovered and reported the missing certificates. A serial number is now affixed to each certificate, and purchases are logged.

When it announced the missing certificates and the new tracking system, the Chamber also required that any outstanding certificates sold previously be brought in for validation, allowing them to be tracked as well.

“The revalidation process was extremely painful,” Pacheco-Holm wrote. “Businesses were fairly supportive during the process, as I think most realized that there had been ongoing issues and we were making an effort to fix them. Internal controls and accountability have made managing this program easier and more effective.”

The Chamber is “comfortable” with the status of its Libby Bucks account, Pacheco-Holm wrote, though she envisions streamlining the tracking system, which is a manual process.

Libby Bucks can be purchased at the Chamber and used as cash at member businesses. Pacheco-Holm previously reported that the Chamber sold more than $55,000 worth of Libby Bucks in 2017, with more than half of that amount purchased during the year-end holiday season. The $10 certificates are commonly purchased as gifts or as prizes for use in fundraising, and as holiday bonuses for employees. The program has been in place for about three decades.

Griffeth said if “a flood” of unvalidated Libby Bucks suddenly appears on the market, the Sheriff’s Office will “reopen the investigation and see where it leads.”