Bradley County commissioners agree oversight at fault in credit card misuse

Thomas Crye
Thomas Crye

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A raft of findings related to improper use of Bradley County credit cards isn't a policy problem, it's an oversight issue, several county commissioners said Tuesday.

"If policy had been followed and enforced by department heads and elected officials, we wouldn't even be talking about this," Commissioner Thomas Crye said at the commission's finance committee meeting.

photo Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis

The improper use was cited in the annual audit by the state comptroller's office, made public in December. Auditors found that in 55 percent of credit card transactions, employees violated policy either by failing to obtain a detailed receipt, not signing the charge slip or using the card for in-town meals rather than out of town travel, as required by county policy.

Of 430 transactions, 238 weren't properly documented. The biggest offender was the sheriff's office, with 146 improper transactions, followed by the fire department, with 48; the assessor's office, with 23; Emergency Management with 11 and the mayor's office, with 10.

"From the auditors' point of view, it's not that there's any money missing, they're just not following the rules," County Mayor D. Gary Davis said.

Davis, who is the county's chief fiscal officer, said he has reminded department heads and elected officials of county policy. They are required to sign off on their departments' credit card use before sending the bills to the county finance office for payment. If receipts or signed slips go missing, the employees must write a memo explaining where, why and by whom the card was used.

Several commissioners didn't think that was enough and batted around ideas for more accountability. Several focused on different ways to make employees who violated policy responsible for the expense.

"Until we quit reimbursing people that can't keep up with receipts, I have a problem with it," Chairman Louie Alford said.

Well, Davis said, the fury over the audit findings has gotten the office and department leaders' attention. He suggested just watching for a time to see if they do a better job.

Commissioners Mike Hughes and Charlotte Peak favored that approach, saying county workers aren't deliberately misusing the cards.

"This is getting kind of ridiculous. Should we start making people take pictures of their lunch?" Peak said. "Instead of making a new policy, let's start enforcing the policy we have."

The sheriff's office sent a representative to the meeting.

Commissioner Dan Rawls said Sheriff Eric Watson and his top aide, Richard McAllister, were asked to be present, but they weren't there. Chief Deputy Brian Smith said BCSO employees were told they must turn in signed, detailed receipts plus a memo each time they use the credit card.

"It's pretty obvious we have some problems we need to work on," Smith said, adding he's "put some safeguards in place to try and solve the problem."

McAllister runs the department's finances, but from now on Smith will sign off on the credit card statements after McAllister does.

The two state auditors who conducted the county audit, and the regional director from the Tennessee Comptroller's Office, will attend the county Audit Committee meeting on Jan. 1 to discuss credit cards and the audit more fully, Rawls said.

Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416.

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