A Washington State Patrol investigation into the former director of Island Transit didn’t uncover any criminal wrongdoing, the Island County prosecutor concluded.

But Prosecutor Greg Banks calculates that former IT director Martha Rose was overpaid by nearly $7,000 as part of her separation agreement. He said the agency probably can’t do anything to recoup the money because the board of directors ratified the payout amount as part of the settlement.

“There’s nothing that can be done about it now,” Banks said.

Oak Harbor Councilman Rick Almberg, however, offered a suggestion.

“I would ask her to voluntarily give the money back as a gesture of good faith,” he said.

Of the five current members of the Island Transit board, only Langley Councilman Jim Sundberg was present when the board approved Rose‘s severance agreement.

Banks asked detectives with the State Patrol to investigate last fall after a report by the state Auditor’s Office identified discrepancies between Rose’s calendar and her vacation leave balance.

The Auditor’s Office analyzed the transit agency’s records after financial problems forced officials to layoff employees and cut bus routes.

Rose eventually left under pressure from the public and the IT board of directors.

The board approved a $106,000 payout as part of Rose’s severance package, which included $88,000 for unused vacation.

The state audit report and the State Patrol investigation both indicate that Rose hadn’t reported many days of vacation time over the years.

Rose failed to claim any paid leave time in 2013, but her calendars showed she was on vacation for 35 days during that year, Banks wrote.

Banks found that there was at least 25 days of vacation that she took but didn’t report in 2014.

After reviewing the state patrol investigation, Banks said he wouldn’t be able to prove that Rose acted with criminal intent. He said the lack of a paper trail was probably because there was no paper to begin with.

“The complete lack of information is, in my opinion, a result of very loose policies which, in turn, permitted high-level employees to take vacations without decreasing their vacation leave banks, and not violate IT policies by doing so,” he wrote in his notice on his filing decision.

Banks wrote that a transit employee, and not Rose, calculated her vacation leave payout and the board approved it in exchange for Rose’s agreement releasing the agency from any claims or liability related to her leaving.

“Here, the most that could be proven is that Ms. Rose took maximum advantage of loose policies and the lack of oversight to maximize her leave accounts,” Banks wrote.

Yet Banks found that Rose did receive financial benefit from her stockpiled vacation leave.

He noted that transit officials, and possibly auditors, assumed that Rose’s lack of accounting for her vacation time didn’t affect the payout amount because her vacation balance was “maxed out” beyond what she could carry over each year.

Transit officials have said it was “a wash” because her vacation balance was above the cap.

Banks found that this is not the case, but that her payout was likely too high, to the tune of $6,960.

“I don’t think anyone did the math,” he said.

Rose did not return a call for comment by press time.