JASPER, Tenn. - The Marion County Commission has decided to hire a private auditing firm to inspect the county's finances instead of using state auditors.
At its October meeting, the board voted 10-4 to hire Henderson, Hutcherson & McCullough in Chattanooga for one year to audit the county's general fund, its school system and highway department at a cost of about $30,000.
The state comptroller's office charges around $15,000 per year for the same job.
"It's an additional $15,000," County Mayor David Jackson said. "I think this would be good for us to do. The folks at the state, they're good people. Nothing wrong with them, but I think we would be better served with a private audit than the state."
The county saved about $28,000 per year on the county's phone bill by switching from AT&T to Charter Spectrum recently, and he said that could help offset some of the extra costs.
"If I didn't think this was good for the county, I wouldn't suggest us doing this," Jackson said. "What it does is when you have a problem, it gives us somebody to call and come in and help all during the year."
He said state auditors are in county offices "nine months out of 12 just about."
When state officials saw the news that Marion was considering switching to a private firm in August, Jackson said, they were "very offended" by what was said by some county leaders about the state's auditors.
"We can call them - the state - and very seldom get a reply back," Jackson said. "What was said was true. That's how we felt."
He added that state auditors "don't work real well" with county office holders and not "as we would like."
Marion's park and landfill use separate private auditors, and county leaders said it's always been set up that way.
Commissioner Tommy Thompson, who works at the landfill, voted against hiring another private company because he said his experience with private auditors hasn't been "all that great."
"You get the same write-ups with every one of them," Thompson said. "It's up to this [board] to correct findings, and segregation of duties is the main thing in every one of these audits that I've ever had anything to do with."
He said the problem of having a small staff is just a fact of life in rural counties, and that would always be an audit finding "we have to live with."
"The state's got the final say, regardless of whatever you do," he said.
Commissioner Mack Reeves also voted against hiring the private auditing firm after hearing that only three rural counties in the state use private accountants in favor of the state's auditors.
"We're supposed to be stewards of the taxpayers' money," he said.
Almost every municipality in Tennessee uses private firms, Jackson said, as well as the state's four largest counties.
County Commission Chairman Gene Hargis said the board would address the private auditing option again next October when the one-year contract has expired.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.