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TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A sweeping internal audit into Titusville’s Water Resources Field Operations Division found a former senior city employee misappropriated city assets, used city personnel and equipment for personal benefit, and operated inside a division plagued by serious weaknesses in inventory tracking, procurement oversight, scrap disposal controls, workplace reporting, and facility security. In a March 13 memo to the mayor and city council, City Manager Tom Abbate said charges have been filed against former Water Resources Field Operations Superintendent Jeffrey “Jeff” Wayner and that the State Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case while the city seeks restitution.

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The audit, dated March 12 and prepared by Internal Auditor Amelia Robinson, says the investigation began after anonymous complaints received on Dec. 30, 2025, and Jan. 8, 2026. The second caller alleged Wayner had directed an employee to buy a $2,799 John Deere lawn mower in September 2024 and that the mower was later seen at his daughter’s home in Citra. Auditors said the city immediately launched an internal review, interviewed employees, and traced the equipment back to city operations.

According to the audit, Wayner resigned on Jan. 12, 2026, and admitted taking the John Deere mower along with other city-owned items. The report says he returned several items, including ladders, a pressure washer, cement mixer, gas can, table saw, tile cutter, hydraulic mower deck lift, and router. Titusville police later forwarded felony theft charges to the State Attorney’s Office, and the audit says the documented value in the detective’s report totaled $3,676.99 for several identified assets, though auditors noted additional returned items were not included in that report.

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Auditors said the mower purchase itself exposed deeper internal failures. The report says a Cub Cadet mower bought Sept. 17, 2024, for $2,499 was returned six days later and replaced the same day with the John Deere mower at Wayner’s direction. The John Deere was delivered to Wayner’s personal residence, not a city facility, and was never entered into the city’s inventory records. Internal Audit also reviewed 387 procurement card transactions totaling $254,072.72, said 19 small-tool purchases totaling $6,524.15 could not be located during physical verification, and found two purchases totaling $871.88 for Christmas gifts that were not consistent with city purchasing rules for official business.

The findings went well beyond the mower. The audit says city employees were used in February 2025 to perform sewer lateral work at a private residence outside Titusville city limits, potentially leaving the city on the hook for labor, equipment, and rental costs tied to non-city work. Auditors also found eight capital assets physically located at the Field Operations facility that were not recorded on the division’s finance asset schedule, including a 2024 Ford F-250, a 2025 John Deere backhoe, four mobile generators, a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, and a 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid.

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Auditors further documented what they described as unauthorized personal use of city facilities. The report says Internal Audit had previously observed a personal boat stored at the Field Operations site in 2022, yet later determined that not only had the boat not been removed, it had apparently been moved to avoid audit observation. Investigators said a second personal boat and numerous household items, including furniture, a mattress, a drum set, a refrigerator, and other personal belongings, were also being stored on city property.

The report also describes long-running concerns that reach far beyond missing equipment. Internal Audit wrote that records dating back to 2010 show repeated allegations that scrap metal generated by Field Operations was sold outside normal city procedures, with cash proceeds allegedly routed outside official accounts. During the current investigation, an employee turned over 12 receipts from 2012 through 2014 totaling $9,445.29, according to the audit. The report recommends the city consider an independent forensic review of the scrap metal program to determine whether additional losses occurred.

Employee interviews conducted as part of the audit also painted a troubling picture of workplace culture. Auditors said current and former workers described fear of retaliation, weak reporting channels, inadequate access to tools and equipment, and longstanding allegations involving harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and disparate working conditions. The audit says those concerns, some of which predate current leadership, reflect a breakdown in employee trust and confidence in the city’s reporting mechanisms.

In a separate management response issued one day later, Abbate said the city is already moving to tighten controls. Among the steps outlined in the memo, Titusville says it will create a citywide asset manager position reporting directly to the assistant city manager, immediately reduce the P-card purchasing threshold from $5,000 to $2,500 except in limited emergency cases, require annual ethics and fraud training, pursue a confidential fraud hotline, and demand the removal of personal property stored at city facilities. Management also said cameras, physical barriers, and other security upgrades are already in progress at the Public Works site, where the audit found outdated access controls and a system that previously used the last four digits of employees’ Social Security numbers as gate codes.

The management memo places the scandal inside a much larger operational reality. The Field Operations Division has about 40 employees and is responsible for roughly 450 miles of water and sewer lines, more than 120 lift stations, and a wide range of supporting facilities, vehicles, and equipment. Abbate wrote that the city’s goal is not only to recover property and seek restitution, but to rebuild accountability, improve workplace culture, and restore public confidence after what he described as theft and misuse of taxpayer-funded resources.

The audit also makes clear that its role was administrative, not criminal. Internal Audit said its job was to identify internal control failures, policy violations, and possible fraud indicators, then refer potentially criminal matters to law enforcement. Whether additional criminal charges or broader financial findings emerge may depend on what happens next in the State Attorney’s case and whether Titusville follows through on a possible third-party forensic review.

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