County Shines in State of Tennessee Audit

The annual “looking over the shoulder” by the State of Tennessee resulted in what Hardeman County Mayor Jimmy Sain said was “a good audit.”
“We got written up for three or four things,” he said. “But I think they get paid based on how many things they find. We are proud of our audit financially. We got a clean slate and we are tickled with that.”
The audit lists new findings and progress on findings from the previous years. Five of the seven issues the state had with the county in 2015-2016 were corrected according to the report, and three new things were brought to the attention of the county.
Uncorrected issues, according to the report, were compensation in-lieu of insurance benefits and issues with the operations of the airport.
In regards to compensation in-lieu of insurance benefits, the state feels that “the county should not pay employees additional compensation to cover their insurance costs under another health plan.”
Mayor Sain responded that the purchase of insurance was from the Hardeman County Board of Education, not a source other than the county, and the practice results in significant savings in insurance premiums.
The airport issue centered on the accounting of rental of airport hangars. Mayor Sain responded that with only ten hangar rentals, the use of QuickBooks to monitor and generate reports was sufficient.
New issues brought to the county were the county failed to pass budget amendments to balance the books; employee travel practices; and inventory records of seized cash by the Hardeman County Sheriff’s Department. While no impropriety was alleged, the state asked that a more detailed perpetual log be maintained.
The full audit is available from the State of Tennessee at http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/repository/CA/2016/FY16HardemanAFR.pdf.