Joint Meeting Of Audit And Finance Committees
On March 31, 2015, the Jefferson County Audit Committee and Jefferson County Finance Committee met in the Historic Jefferson County Courthouse.
Prior to the joint meeting the Audit Committee convened to install officers. Gary Jett will serve as Committee Chairman, Commissioner John McGraw will hold the Vice Chair position and Finance Director Potts will be Committee Secretary. Beyond acceptance of the January 21, 2014 meeting minutes ( motion McGraw and 2nd Commissioner Scarlett), the Committee set the next meeting date to be held prior to the County Commission voting session.
The joint meeting of the Audit and Finance Committees was Called to Order by Finance Committee Chairman McGraw. Following the Approval of the last Finance Committee Meeting, Jefferson County Director of Finance Potts informed the committees that there is $105,000 that is unassigned and available for use in the County General Fund and $880,000 unassigned in the Department of Education General Fund that is unassigned and available for use( beyond imposed floors for both funds). Potts went over the findings in the most recent County audit and stated that he is in the process of addressing the issues with the school and County findings. He stated that County debt has mow reached just short of $90,000 and the per person debt is $1,722, making Jefferson County one of the top 15 debt per person counties in Tennessee.
The ongoing finding regarding the closure costs of the Landfill were discussed, with Commissioner Gaut bringing information in the issue. Gaut stated that, while there will be closure costs associated with the Landfill, both the current site and the previous site, he suggested that they were over calculated by the State. Gaut said that auditors refused to allow a letter that might have caused an adjustment in the more than $5 million dollar finding and said that , despite repeated findings, the State has historically had no bite on the issue of the findings. He informed the committees that work ongoing on the issue and is expected to alleviate some, but not all, of the costs, leaving the County with the need for a plan to address those costs.
