It might have been an oversight that the Butler Township police apparently failed to issue a news release about a theft of $2,270 in Alameda Park Pool receipts last August. They might have been busy working on more pressing matters.

It might have been easy for the Butler County commissioners to overlook public discussion about the theft at a subsequent commissioners meeting while addressing other aspects of the multimillion-dollar government operation.

But taxpayers shouldn't feel comfortable about the fact that neither the commissioners nor the county Park and Recreation Department director notified county Controller Jack McMillin about the theft.

It is important for McMillin, the county's fiscal watchdog, to know about problems that are likely to produce an audit discrepancy.

The commissioners and Gary Pinkerton, Park and Recreation Department director, displayed an unacceptable disregard for basic good-government communication and procedure, as well as a lack of professional courtesy, in denying the controller the information as soon as it was available — even if they thought there was a good chance that the money would be recovered.

If the commissioners and Pinkerton felt embarrassed about the situation that allowed the theft to occur, they ought to be much more embarrassed now that some taxpayers believe — rightly or wrongly — that the lack of immediate information about the crime was an intentional coverup to keep county operations from looking bad.

By virtue of the way the theft case was handled, taxpayers are justified in wondering whether there are other problems in county government that are not being disclosed to them.

If and when the commissioners get around to discussing the theft at a public meeting, they should divulge the name of the pool supervisor who left the bag containing the $2,270 in question unattended for about 15 minutes in the pool first-aid station, even though that person isn't a suspect. They also should explain why county officials didn't comply with terms of an insurance policy covering the county in regard to criminal incidents.

That policy requires that the insurance company be notified "as soon as possible of any loss of the type insured (under the policy's Public Employee Dishonesty Coverage Form) . . . even though it falls entirely within the deductible amount."

The amount of the theft was totally within the deductible, so the county was ineligible for an insurance payment.

Failing to notify the insurance company accomplished nothing except to, perhaps, temporarily protect the county's claims rating.

According to the township police, all pool employees allowed police to check their belongings following the discovery that the money was missing. Township Lt. John Hays said investigation of the theft was closed after police had exhausted all leads.

"It was just an error in judgment," Pinkerton said, regarding the money being left unattended. "It wasn't handled properly."

The theft was an expensive message that the Park and Recreation Department's employee training procedures need to be beefed up.

Pinkerton told a Butler Eagle reporter that "there will be a lot tighter controls in place" when the pool opens for Summer 2007, but that pledge is $2,270 late.

Taxpayers should look unkindly upon the commissioners for failing to publicly disclose the crime as quickly as possible after it occurred.

Meanwhile, the township police should have recognized the importance of revealing the theft to the public, regardless of how busy they were when the crime was being investigated.

It was public funds that were taken.

Perhaps someone might have stepped forward with some valuable recollection that, due to the passage of time, has been forgotten.

A simple safeguard would have kept the crime from happening, and a basic commitment to avoid secrecy could have spared the county government its current embarrassment.

For the commissioners, it isn't a good way to start an election year.