Gibson County Audit Reveals Financial Weaknesses and Costly Mistakes
The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has completed its annual audit of Gibson County government for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023, and the results show that improvement is needed in the county’s financial operations.
The audit report includes six findings that outline deficiencies, weaknesses, and areas of noncompliance within the Office of the County Mayor, which employs the county finance director. Two additional findings relate to the Office of Trustee and Sheriff respectively.
Auditors found that Gibson County officials failed to comply with federal reporting requirements for grant money received during the pandemic. The failure to report and subsequent failure to provide an explanation has resulted in $109,463 that is being withheld from the county by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The county’s finance director also failed to deposit checks on time, and three checks totaling $11,920 are currently missing. The checks have been received by the county, have not been deposited, and have not cleared with the grantor.
Additional issues include financial statements that required material audit adjustments at year-end. This is a strong indicator that a serious accounting weakness exists within the bookkeeping office.
The General Capital Projects fund also had a cash overdraft of $107,965 at June 30, 2023 because checks were issued that exceeded the cash on deposit with the county trustee.
Furthermore, the office had deficiencies in its budget operations including expenditures exceeding the appropriations approved by the county commission.
“Just two years ago Gibson County had a clean audit without any findings,” said Comptroller Jason Mumpower. “It’s concerning to see the county’s financial management heading in the wrong direction. I encourage county leaders to utilize its Audit Committee and management oversight to improve the situation.”
To view all Tennessee audit reports, click here.
If you suspect fraud, waste, or abuse of public money in Tennessee, call the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline at 800.232.5454, or file a report online at: tncot.cc/fraud. Follow us on X/Twitter @TNCOT and Instagram @tncot
Media contact: John Dunn, Director of Communications, 615.401.7755 or john.dunn@cot.tn.gov
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