GREENE COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released the FY2021 Annual Financial Report on Greene County, finding multiple “significant deficiencies” in county operations.
The audit, which was managed by CPA Mark Treece, is part of annual oversight in every Tennessee county and was administrated by current Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower.
According to public summaries released by the office, Greene County was host to five different incidents during FY2021 that warranted attention by county and state authorities. The state defines deficiencies as a situation where “the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis.”
In Greene County’s case, those deficiencies were considered significant, which the state says were “important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance.” The report states that they do not qualify as material weaknesses within the state’s financial policy, but each deficiency was met with a correction plan within the document.
According to the report, the deficiencies break down as follows:
OFFICE OF REGISTER OF DEEDS
- Office personnel collected personal funds for the Register of Deeds.
Auditors say that during county business hours, employees of County Register Joy Rader spent years collecting funds from Rader’s personal rental properties.
“During the register’s absences from the office,” the report reads. “Employees were collecting rental revenue from tenants and writing receipts, if requested.”
The earliest receipts were said to date back to 2018, and were documented in a manual receipt book apart from county funds.
“This practice potentially co-mingles personal and county funds, reduces control over county funds, and increases the risk of fraud and misappropriation,” auditors said. “Additionally, county employees should only transact county business during business hours.”
OFFICE OF DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS
- Central Cafeteria Fund bank statements were not properly reconciled, and funds were
not remitted to the county trustee in a timely manner. - The county had deficiencies in the maintenance of capital asset records.
The Comptroller’s report states that over $150,000 in meal charge collections were allowed to collect in a Central Cafeteria fund before being transferred to the county trustee, and that deposits were not reconciled with school bank statements.
“This deficiency can be attributed to lack of management oversight,” the report reads. “And the failure of management to implement the corrective action plan from the prior-year.”
OFFICE OF ROAD SUPERINTENDENT
- An investigation of the highway department disclosed department equipment was used
on the private property of an employee.
While trying to collect and move fill dirt donated by a department employee, the Comptroller’s Office says highway superintendent Kevin Swatsell allowed the use of county equipment on the employee’s personal property. The audit states that work done on the land, however, did not significantly improve the land’s value and that the concern largely stemmed out of “potential for adverse public perception and increased risk of abuse.”
OFFICE OF SHERIFF
- An investigation of the sheriff’s department disclosed the former information technology
administrator misappropriated $49,826.
Auditors outlined a May, 2021 incident in which a Greene County Sheriff’s Office employee pleaded guilty to theft after misappropriating nearly $50,000 in county funds. David Cowles, former IT administrator for the office, was charged after using county accounts for personal purchases, altering invoices and improperly reporting time.
In order to prevent similar incidents, management responsible for the deficiencies submitted correction plans to the Comptroller’s Office. Greene County Schools Budget Director Kayla Crawford told auditors that staff turnover and training delayed the implementation of the prior year’s suggestions.
Register Rader said that additional training was conducted for staff, and that employees are no longer allowed to collect funds outside of county business like those on her own properties.
Greene County Sheriff Wesley Holt said he added new department policy upon entering his position, and that all purchase orders must be approved by himself or his chief deputy.
One suggestion by the office was the adoption of a central accounting system, which the report says has been decided against by county management. The system could potentially increase efficiency within the county, the report says, and would significantly improve county services.
