From Local 3 News: Out of the 95 counties in Tennessee, Polk County had the most findings for areas that need improvement from the state comptroll
From Local 3 News: Out of the 95 counties in Tennessee, Polk County had the most findings for areas that need improvement from the state comptroller’s annual audit report.
The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released its annual audit report of Polk County government Wednesday and noted many areas that need improvement.
There were 14 findings, and six of those were reported in 2021.
A few included the Office of Director of Schools having deficiencies in budget operations, the Office of Director of Accounts and Budgets general ledger payroll liability accounts not being reconciled, and payroll tax deposits to the Internal Revenue Service were not properly reported.
John Dunn with the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office said “Repeat findings are always a concern for our office because we’ve told them there is an issue and recommended a way to fix the problem, but either there was unwillingness or an inability to correct it.”
Dunn also said one of the findings had been repeated over the last 11 annual audits and has not been addressed. It is how Polk County handles its highway department’s financial activities.
In the newest report, the Office of Circuit and General Sessions Courts Clerk was flagged for using a signature stamp to sign checks and not reviewing a list of voided transactions, but that’s not all.
“The operations of circuit clerks and the general session courts clerk office are being investigated by our office. If anything, there is proven, we will issue those findings in a separate report,” Dunn said.
Dunn could not share any other information regarding the investigation.
Other findings from the latest report feature the Office of Trustee, the Office of Director of Schools, and the Sheriff’s Office.
