KIMBALL, Tenn. – During some recent budget work sessions, the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen discussed a need to seek requests for proposals on the city’s yearly audit contract as a way to possibly save money.
“This year we’re a little bit behind on getting that timing down,” City Recorder Tonia May said.
The state requires the city’s audit contract and reporting system be submitted within 60 days of its notification to do so.
Officials said the penalty for missing that deadline is having 15 percent of the town’s state-shared revenues withheld.
Kimball got the letter on March 3, which would give the town only until May 3 to present all that information.
May said there’s no way the board would have time to request new proposals, review them and decide on a contract by that deadline.
“We would need to do that probably in January or February of next year,” she said. “So, this year, in order to not have any penalties from the state and be in compliance, we would need to stay with our current auditor.”
At its April meeting, the board voted unanimously to accept a contract worth just over $25,000 with Kimball’s current auditor, Johnson, Murphey & Wright in Chattanooga.
Alderman John Matthews asked that the city’s next financial report be presented to the board at a workshop at least a week before it’s submitted at a regular board meeting.
“I think that would help us if we had it in our hands,” he said.
At the recent work session, the board expressed a need for “more defined clarification” of the town’s “internal weaknesses.”
Alderman Mark Payne agreed and said the board is running essentially a $3 million-per-year business.
“Sometimes there’s pointed questions we really need to ask to address the issues in an audit,” he said.
In other business, the board voted unanimously to update Kimball’s personnel policy with an official work schedule for its police officers.
Under the guidelines, officers would work up to 84 hours during a 14-day pay cycle before receiving overtime.
Mayor Rex Pesnell said a Governor’s Highway Safety Office audit discovered the town didn’t have an official policy governing overtime in its personnel manual.
“It’s what we’ve always done for years,” he said. “We just didn’t have it in the personnel policy stating that’s the way we did it.”
City Attorney Billy Gouger said the Fair Labor Standards Act allows officers to work up to 86 hours in a 14-day period without getting overtime.
Kimball adopted the 84-hour policy in 2003, even though it wasn’t included in the city’s personnel guidelines until now.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.