A pair of juvenile detention centers at the crux of a bribery scandal in Luzerne County also were charging counties like Allegheny and Butler too much for their services, according to a state audit.

The report from the state Department of Public Welfare on Western Pennsylvania Child Care, located in Allegheny Township, Butler County, and its sister facility, Pennsylvania Child Care, in Luzerne County, came as no surprise to Butler County Controller Jack McMillin. He is asking for a more extensive financial review of the detention centers.

The facilities are owned by Greg Zappala, brother of the Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. and son of former state Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr.

Mr. McMillin, who received the report last week, said the state audit "clearly shows" that money is due to the counties that sent juvenile offenders to the facilities during the fiscal year that began July 1, 2008. Both Butler and Allegheny counties have been clients of the Butler County facility. Mr. McMillin now wants an audit of Western Pennsylvania Child Care since it opened in 2005.

The lengthy document enumerates about $1.2 million in expenses such as golf outings and a chartered fishing trip that inflated fees, which were passed on to counties that contracted with Western Pennsylvania Child Care and Pennsylvania Child Care.

Counties were billed $314 a day for secure treatment and $255 a day for shelter services. Auditors determined the fees could have been $64 and $60 less, respectively. Mr. Zappala contended in his response to the draft audit that the lower numbers do not allow any profit margin.

Two Luzerne County judges are in jail for taking $2.6 million in payoffs to direct business to the facilities. Mr. Zappala is not accused of wrongdoing, though he is among the targets of several civil suits on behalf of juvenile victims.

Butler County Solicitor Julie Graham said the county will formally ask the Department of Public Welfare to conduct audits for the years preceding the 2007-08 fiscal year. Butler County had contracted with Western Pennsylvania Child Care through December 2008. The county has held back about $30,000 in fees, which Mr. Zappala has requested be released. Mr. McMillin said no money will be released until his staff determines what the county has a right to claim.

Allegheny County has been sending juveniles to Western Pennsylvania Child Care since the facility opened in 2005. Currently, there are five youths in placement there, according to Kathleen Burk, senior communications manager with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Ms. Burk was unable to immediately determine whether the county will seek any reimbursement of fees paid to the facility.