Lewis County Audit Highlights Need for Improvement
The Tennessee Comptroller’s annual audit of Lewis County for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023 includes 16 findings which raise concerns about the competence of financial management in the county government.
The 16 findings include material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, and noncompliance issues spread among the Office of County Mayor, Office of Road Superintendent, Office of Director of Schools, and Office of Trustee.
While conducting their work, auditors had to make material audit adjustments to the financial statements in the offices of county mayor, road superintendent, and director of schools. These actions are a strong indicator that the county has ineffective controls over the maintenance of its accounting records.
Additional problems in the county mayor’s office included a failure to maintain accurate capital asset records, expenditures exceeding budgeted appropriations, purchasing deficiencies, reconciliation issues, and $1,630 in interest and penalties assessed by the Internal Revenue Service.
The road superintendent’s office had additional findings related to purchasing procedures and a failure to comply with state statutes when issuing a capital outlay note to purchase a new excavator.
Other findings in the director of schools office related to budget operations, purchase orders that were not always issued property, and not reconciling the general ledger cash accounts with the county trustee’s reports.
The final two findings in the Office of Trustee were for paying checks that exceeded available funds and not reviewing software audit logs to check for inappropriate activity.
“Lewis County has the unenviable distinction of having received the most findings of any county in our fiscal year 2023 audit cycle,” said Comptroller Mumpower. “I am pleased to note the county is considering Certified County Finance Officer training as it works with its audit committee to correct these significant issues in the county government.”
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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