A long-awaited forensic audit of Clayton County government slammed the way the county is run, calling it ripe for “self-dealing, fraud and abuse” if corrective measures aren’t taken.
Although the final report of the forensic audit, which cost $500,000, won’t be out for about a month, county leaders got a glimpse Tuesday night of its key findings.
Representatives from the companies that did the audit, which looked at county operations between 2009 and 2012, told county commissioners that Clayton at that time lacked “policies, procedures and controls necessary to provide transparency.”
“We didn’t find written formal policies and there was a lack of controlled structure,” said Aaron Danzig, an attorney with Arnall Golden Gregory, an Atlanta firm brought in to do the forensic audit with White Elm Group, an auditing firm.
Commission Chairman Jeff Turner and Commissioner Shana Rooks requested a forensic audit when they came into office 13 months ago after Clayton’s district attorney launched investigations into possible corruption within county government. The board approved their request in a 3-2 vote.
Turner said he was alarmed by the audit’s findings. “Clearly it demonstrates a lack of control in the finance department, lack of transparency and antiquated systems,” he said.
The audit looked at all county departments but took particular aim at the finance department. Efforts to understand county operations — and dispel rumors of mismanagement — were hampered by some officials whom Danzig deemed uncooperative during the audit. Former county manager Wade Starr and former finance director Angela Jackson would not speak to the auditors, nor would the county’s former auditor KPMG, Danzig said.
Nonetheless, dozens of county employees were interviewed and 10,000 public documents were examined, Danzig told county commissioners. He noted that the county has since taken steps to create better transparency and system controls but more work must be done.
Starr, who served as county manager from autumn 2011 until January 2013, fired back.
“From what I understand, there was no allegation of any wrongdoing,” he said. “The Clayton County finance department has been recognized for 34 consecutive years for excellence in financial reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association. The state requires an independent audit be done and submitted each year. That audit addresses policies, procedures and internal controls. Anyone who chooses to read that can see that we had strong policies, procedures and internal controls in place. I would leave it up to citizens to decide what motive these people would have to say something to the contrary.”
Three key areas were cited in the forensic audit:
- Contracts and accounts payable. There was no central monitoring of contracts. A sampling of contracts had missing information.
- Lack of sufficient oversight of transactions involving special purpose local option sales tax. SPLOST money was inappropriately used to buy a former Ingles building with the intention of turning it into a library and later a recreation center, unbeknown to the park and rec director. The facility is now a movie studio. The money was repaid to the SPLOST fund, the report noted.
- Fire Fund. Major miscommunications between Jackson and officials overseeing the fire fund led to an initial misunderstanding of how much money was in the fund. The problem was later resolved. But, Danzig said, the situation showed how Jackson had an "autocratic style" and "exercised sole control of the department" — concerns that led to "uninformed decision-making."
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