KIMBALL, Tenn. – Several months ago the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen talked about sending out requests for proposals to auditing firms to see what kind of responses the board would get.
City leaders decided at the time to put the matter off until 2017, and now the board has voted 4-1 to stay with its current auditor, Chattanooga-based Johnson, Murphey & Wright.
“It’s not that we’re not happy with the performance we’re getting now, but we thought we might want to do that several months ago,” Mayor Rex Pesnell said. “I feel like we’re getting a good job.”
Vice Mayor Jerry Don Case made the motion to scrap the RFP idea and said getting another auditing firm would cause more trouble than it would be worth.
Another firm could have the city “jumping through all kinds of hoops,” he said, and it would be harder on the City Hall staff, which has developed a good relationship with the present firm.
“I’m satisfied with who we’ve got,” Case said. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Alderman Mark Payne cast the lone no vote. Payne said he wasn’t necessarily in favor of changing auditors, but the town needed to see what other options existed.
“If we don’t have some numbers and statistics to compare it to, it’s hard to make a decision,” he said. “I think you need to float it and have actual numbers.”
Pesnell said there is “no guarantee” another firm wouldn’t “lowball” a bid proposal, and then raise the rate substantially in the next fiscal year.
“If we’re happy with the service we’re getting, I don’t really see a need in doing it myself,” he said. “I feel like what we might save would cost us in having to prepare for a new auditor. It would cause a tremendous amount of excess work for the office staff, and I don’t know if the savings would be enough.”
In other business, the board voted unanimously to deny a sewer fee waiver request from Lowe’s Home Improvement.
Officials said the store was told it had a significant sewer leak last May, but didn’t repair the problem until November. During that time, it racked up an excess sewer fee totaling $10,603.
The leak cost Lowe’s $9,202 to fix, Pesnell said.
“They have had this happen before, and we have kind of made an agreement that we would fix [the bill] two times for commercial [businesses]. This is the fourth time that they have requested this.”
City Attorney Billy Gouger said the board in 2011 rejected Lowe’s third fee waiver request based on that precedent.
He said Lowe’s was sent a formal letter in 2011 stating the town would not grant any more excess sewer fee waivers.
Over the six-month period the leak went unchecked, officials said, the store’s sewer bill went from about $600 per month to $11,000 per month.
“When somebody knows they’ve got this kind of problem, I can’t justify [a waiver],” Payne said.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.