Legislative Joint Auditing [ASR TEST]
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Unknown speaker
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Thank you.
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I believe our first order of business is the adoption of the minutes of the June 7, 2019 meeting, and I believe everybody had those emailed to them. Anybody have any question or comment on those minutes? All right, then without objection, we will consider those adopted. The next order of business is the adoption of the reports for the executive and standing committees. Senator Cheatham, would you mind reading the executive committee's report?
Speaker 5
4:00
I will. The executive committee met Thursday, September 12, 2019. Staff reported to the committee the audit special investigative and shortage reports scheduled to be presented to the standing committees and the full legislative joint auditing committee this month. The committee took the following actions. Approved a request to perform selective procedures for the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District. approved a request from the city of Benton to perform the city's financial audit beginning with the 2019 calendar year
and approved a request from the Marion School District to perform district's financial audit beginning with the 2018-2019 physical year. With no additional business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the committee will be held Thursday, October 10, 2019. I move for the adoption of this report. Thank you, sir.
Do we have a second? All right, we have a second. Without objection, I'm sorry. All those in favor of adopting the report, please say aye.
Aye. All those opposed, nay. All right, we'll consider that one adopted. Next up, Representative Watson, you're recognized. okay thank
Representative Danny Watson
Unverified
5:32
you mr. chair standing committee on counties and minutes
municipalities met September 12th 2019 committee adopted the minutes of the June 6 2019 meeting the committee discussed the status of the towns of Allport, Jericho, Wabaseka and Fulton and the City of Bradford and their compliance with the Municipal Accounting Law. Staff reported that the Town of Wabaseka and the City of Bradford have made significant progress and are in substantial compliance with the Municipal Accounting Law. Staff reported
that the Towns of Allport and Jericho remained in substantial non-compliance compliance with the municipal accounting law and recommended continuing the process of Arkansas Code, annotated 1459-117. Staff also reported that the town of Fulton was in substantial noncompliance with the municipal accounting law. The Standing Committee on Counties and Municipalities recommends to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee that the process of withholding
turn back per arkansas code annotated 14 59 117 be discontinued on the city of bradford and the town of wabaseka continued for the towns of allport and jericho and started for the town of fulton the committee reviewed seven previously deferred reports five of the reports were filed and two were deferred officials from three of these entities were present to discuss their repeat findings the committee reviewed 263 current reports eight of these were
certified to the bond board 33 will refer to prosecuting attorneys officials from seven entities were present to address the repeat findings in their current reports the committee filed 262 current reports and deferred one. I move for adoption of this report. Thank you, Representative. Do I
have a second to adopt? We have a second. All right, all those in favor, say aye.
Senator Joyce Elliott
Unverified
7:47
Yeah, you're recognized, Senator Elliott. I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask a question of, I guess, Representative Watson. For the towns of Allport, Fulton and Jericho that the turn back funds will be held do did they give you or was anybody there to give you a some idea like at what time and how long it would take before they could be righted to reinstate those turn back funds
because I know these are like most small towns and very poor places in this
Representative Danny Watson
Unverified
8:41
state okay thank you excellent question Senator Elliott if I may I'd like to defer to to staff on to possibly Miss Steele thank you ma'am
Speaker 22
8:50
Ms. Elliott, the Arkansas Code Annotated 1459117 is a multi-step process, and we check back with those entities every 60 days, and at any time during that time period, they can call us and ask us to come look at their records. As the report said, we had two that we were able to take off that list this time because they had improved their records. Do
Senator Joyce Elliott
Unverified
9:19
you know if they have the means to do this if they don't call you guys in?
I know you can't just barge in, but do we know if they actually have the expertise to make the
Speaker 22
9:33
changes? Ma'am, we recommend that they contact the municipal league because the league has some excellent training geared just toward them, and they're just in a better position to assist the smaller municipalities than we are. Okay, all right, thank you, and thank you,
Senator Joyce Elliott
Unverified
9:46
Representative Watson. Senator Hammer, you're recognized for a question.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
9:57
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry I missed it. Why are we withholding their funds? Was this a repeat finding, or could you give me a brief explanation of that again, please? Would you mind repeating that question, Senator? Sure. I missed the explanation in the reading as to why we are withholding their turn-back funds. Is it because it was repeat findings, or what's the cause of us having to vote to withhold it?
Speaker 22
10:28
Yes, sir. The reason is that they're in noncompliance with the municipal accounting law, which is in the code between 1459-101 and 1459-118. that lines out the procedures that they're supposed to go through as far as their financial records, their journals and reconciliations and things of that nature. Okay, and is this a
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
10:49
repeat finding? Have we done this with them before or is this the first
Speaker 22
10:55
time? Sir, we don't even mention this until we have the findings several reports in a row.
So some of these findings go back as far as like 2006, 2010, several years. we don't propose this until it's been they've had ample opportunity to correct their issues okay so they've been this
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
11:15
has been going on since 2006 it varies from entity to entity i
Speaker 22
11:20
would have to go back and look at their the findings in most of the findings it says this has been repeated in reports dating back to to whatever the year it started okay
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
11:32
and and one last question mr chair
thanks for your latitude so there is no they will have their funds we go we vote this they're going to have their funds held indefinitely until they prove to who that they have corrected the problem will it come back before us as a legislative body or is it just going to be at the determination of the bureau they as i as i
Speaker 22
11:57
told miss elliott they can call us at any time to go look at their records and then what we do is bring back our recommendation to the committee,
and the committee ultimately makes that decision. The funds are withheld first at 50% and then at 100%, and after that, those are all put in escrow. At any time during that time, if the records are corrected, they can get that money back, but at a certain point, the funds are redistributed to other municipalities who receive turn back. but that's like after a six-month process again at which any time they can call us to ask us to
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
12:37
come look and see if they've corrected things but it would still come back before us as a committee once you determine that yes okay so it could be as soon as 30 days it could be as long as whatever it takes them to get with you
Speaker 41
12:54
to get it right yes sir okay thank you thank you mr all right are there any other
questions all right we have a motion and a second uh all those in favor of adoption of this report say aye all opposed no all right we will
consider that one adopted next up representative Barry you're
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
13:23
recognized thank you thank you mr. chairman standing community of educational institutions met September the 12th. The committee reviewed three current higher education audit reports, 62 current school district audit reports, and five current
educational cooperative audit reports, and 17 current open enrollment charter school audit reports for the year end June 30, 2018. The committee deferred acceptance of the current audit report of the Earl School District without review due to the superintendent not being present as requested as a result of the the state board of education classifying the district as being in financial distress and since the district audit
report contained repeat findings arkansas department of education personal personnel informed the committee that the superintendent was attending the school board of education meeting and had planned to address the committee once finished. Representatives from the Cleveland County and East Point school districts were present and answered questions from the committee related to the repeat finding contained in each of the respective districts audit report. The
vice president of finance of the Black River Technical College was also present and answered questions from the committee related to the finding contained in the college's audit report. Representatives from the Arkansas Department of Education were present and answered questions from the committee related to findings contained in the Ozark Monastery Academy audit report, two of which were repeat findings. The committee was informed the school's charter was transferred to Lisa
Academy effective July the first 2019 and as a result is no longer in operation the audit reports of the Camden Fairview and Lamar school districts were certified to the governmental bonding board the audit report of the Lone Oak school district was referred to the respective prosecuting attorney the committee files 87 of the current audit reports to their brought before that was brought before it mr chairman move this is time to adopt adoption of this report thank you
Speaker 41
15:50
representative are there any questions all right do
Representative Danny Watson
Unverified
15:52
we have a second for that motion oh we have a second on motion all those in favor say aye all those opposed no all right thank you that one can will stand uh adopted uh next item of business
Senator Trent Garner
Unverified
16:10
uh senator garner you're recognized thank you mr chairman 40 reports were on the committee's agenda yesterday five reports with findings were presented the review of select federal programs containing four findings one for the natural resource commission and three for the department of energy management this special
report includes a review of various federal programs that are not typically reviewed in the statewide single audit the finding involves a lack of sub receipts monitoring inadequate supporting documentation for accounts payable items and improper transfer between federal programs. The Arkansas Department of Health did not conduct proper inventories for prescription medication or bioterrorism emergency preparedness supplies. Also, an employee was overpaid $664 for mileage reimbursement due to the employee not using the appropriate location when calculating
mileage. The State Highway Employee Retirement System did not properly report security lending activities totaling 44.2 million dollars in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles the Department of Parks and Tourism did not properly handle the purchase and inventory of over 1,000 bicycle jerseys the Department of Heritage Arkansas Heritage overpaid for vendors contracts totaling approximately thirty four thousand dollars for the historic Arkansas Museum various agency staff members were present to report on how the agencies
intended to address the audit findings and to answer committee questions during the meeting the committee adopted a motion to file the 40 reports i'll move to file this report thank you
senator uh any questions or comment on that report all right
Representative Danny Watson
Unverified
17:45
do we have a second to adopt it i see a second all those in favor say aye all opposed no all right thank you committee
that one will be adopted. Our next item of business today will be our first investigative report. Mr. Locke you're recognized. Thank you Mr. Chairman. The
Speaker 56
18:10
prosecuting attorney for the 17th judicial district asked us to review the receipts and deposits of the Bald Knob Water and Sewer Department. An employee of the department had discovered cash missing from some deposits so the city hired a private CPA firm to investigate it and the CPA's report covered the period January 2016 through July 2018 and the prosecuting attorney asked us to
Speaker 58
18:35
go back prior to 2016 to see if any additional money was missing. Our
Speaker 56
18:44
objectives were to determine if all funds were properly deposited, determine if the department obtained a financial audit in compliance with Arkansas Code, and assess internal control over the department's receding and depositing processes. Bonob is a first-class city located in White County which operates under the Mayor, Council, form of government. The City Council consists of six aldermen who govern the city, including the Water and Sewer Department.
The department provides water and sewer services to properties within the city, and certain properties outside the city limits, and the department receives an annual financial audit by a CPA firm. During 2015, department personnel with bookkeeping responsibilities consisted of an office manager and a water clerk. Both of these individuals collected funds and maintained separate cash drawers.
However, at the end of each day, all the funds were turned in to the water clerk, along with a computer printout showing all the funds that had been collected that day, and then the water clerk was responsible for preparing and making the bank deposit. In July 2018, department personnel discovered cash missing from several daily bank deposits. When they questioned the water clerk, she admitted misappropriating the funds, and her employment was terminated on July 26, 2018.
We compared cash receipts entered in the department's computer system with cash deposited in the bank and found undeposited cash totaling $20,862 in 2015. The CPA firm, as I said, examined the period 2016 through July 2018, and they determined that $126,856 had been misappropriated during that time. These unaccounted for funds are shown in Exhibit 1 on page 2 of the report.
And we also compared receipts with deposits for two months following the water clerk's termination and found that all the cash collected during that two-month period was properly deposited. This is an example of the undeposited cash I just randomly selected one date to use as an example. but on October 30th, 2015, receipts exceeded deposits by $440.02. As you can see, all the checks were deposited, but cash was short $440.02.
This slide shows the individual receipts that make up the shortage. These cash payments totaling $440.02 were collected on October 30th, 2015, but they were never deposited in the bank. As required by state law, the department obtained annual financial audits conducted by a CPA firm. In the 2017 audit, the CPA firm issued a qualified opinion on the financial statements. Explaining the qualified opinion, the auditor said that due to inadequacies in the department's
accounting records and lack of reconciliation of revenue to cash deposits, they were unable to form an opinion regarding the amount of revenue in the financial statements. In addition, the audit report contained a note to the financial statements disclosing misappropriated funds as well as an audit finding concerning misappropriated funds and internal control deficiencies. The internal control deficiencies disclosed in the CPA's audit report were also noted
during our review, and these included receding and depositing duties not being adequately segregated, receipts not being reconciled with bank deposits, and management not providing adequate fiscal oversight. As a result of our review, we recommend that receipting and depositing duties be segregated to the extent possible and that daily receipt listings be reconciled to bank deposits. In addition, management should exercise proper fiscal oversight, ensure that adequate internal controls are established, and then monitor the controls to ensure adherence.
So in summary, our review revealed misappropriated funds of $20,862 in 2015, and separate procedures performed by a CPA firm revealed misappropriated funds of $126,856 during the period 2016 through July 2018. So the total unaccounted for funds were $147,718. The water clerk, Linda Jinks, whose employment was terminated on July 26, 2018, was custodian
of the funds and was responsible for bank deposits, and Ms. Jinks was charged with felony theft in June 2019. And this concludes our report on the Ball Knob Water and Sewer Department, and there are city officials here if the committee has any questions. Thank you, Mr. Locke.
does the committee have any questions for anybody from the water department alright I see
no questions we will consider that reviewed thank you Mr. Locke alright next report
will be on the Alpena school district Miss
Speaker 77
24:33
Everett you're recognized thank you mr. chair this present this presentation covers the audit of the alpena school district for the year ending june 30th 2018 located in boone
county in northern arkansas the district served approximately 525 students in one elementary school one high school during the 2017-18 school year it employs approximately 75 individuals in certified and classified positions our audit contain one management letter finding related to funds totaling over twenty four thousand dollars that were misappropriated through the following
three schemes. Revenue not deposited, check cash substitution, startup funds not deposited. Administrative assistant Stephanie Tanner was custodian of these funds. The majority of the funds were misappropriated through the first scheme. Revenue not deposited,
As a result of testing activity fund receipts for three months of 2018, we noted that receipts did not agree to deposits. We began testing other months and found similar issues. We later questioned Ms. Tanner about a voided receipt for nearly $1,300 in gate funds from a January 24th basketball game.
Ms. Tanner stated that the game might have been canceled or funds could have been combined with another gate receipt. However, we located the gate form and confirmed that the game had been played. During examination of checks issued by the district and other supporting documentation, we discovered gate forms for other games with funds not receded or deposited.
A check cash substitution method was also used where Ms. Tanner held checks to substitute for cash taken from deposits. On the slide is a check dated October the 4th, 2018 for $563 that the district received from Wingard Photography for district's portion of school picture proceeds.
This check was never receipted, but it was deposited on October the 16th, apparently in place of cash. Finally, over $1,500 in authorized start-up cash from various events was used from the district's account. However, these funds were never redeposited and Ms. Tanner was custodian of these funds.
In summary, sorry about that. In summary, review of the district's Activity Fund financial records indicated revenue over $24,000 that was not deposited during the review period. Administrative Assistant Stephanie Tanner pled not guilty to one count of felony theft of property on April the 26th of this year.
and resigned from the district's employment on April the 29th. A court appearance is scheduled for October. This concludes my presentation of the audit of the Alpena School District. District officials are present to answer committee questions. Thank you, Ms. Everett. I have
a question for you real quick. Would you mind explaining what that startup cash was?
Speaker 77
29:13
Yes. I mean, what exactly is that? Yes. What it was, in basketball games, they would have gate funds and where they would have like a cash change fund startup to where they can make change for people that came. And also, they also had a rodeo, the FFA rodeo, and they wanted startup funds for people that paid that attended. And then also the Beta Club had a garage sale.
Speaker 82
29:44
And so they asked for startup funds for their Saturday garage sale. And so that's what that
Speaker 80
29:50
was. Great. Makes great sense. Thank you. Are there any questions by committee? Representative Mayberry, you're recognized. The school district
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
30:02
is here, correct? like uh we have the
superintendent and district treasurer here okay would you like i mean they're here i'd like to okay yeah hear from them if you guys are present would you please come to the table and when you get there just remain standing mr
Speaker 89
30:24
chairman if i could just say something on this
as far as the questions that are being asked this is another situation where charges have been filed but we're awaiting trial so we just need to be kind of cognizant on the
Speaker 90
30:36
type of questions that we ask the individuals because anything they say today may come up
at trial also all right thank you sir um to my right here please uh state your name employer and position raise your right
hand i'm sorry we're going to put you under oath as a customary for testimony before this committee uh please state your name employer and position
Thank you, sir. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Thank you, sir. Ma'am, the same thing. Please raise your right hand. State your name, employer, and position. Thank you. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Thank you, ma'am. All right, feel free to take a seat there, and you can turn those microphones on in front of you uh representative mayberry you're recognized
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
31:35
sure uh thanks for joining us and appreciate you being here just kind of want to know what internal controls um are in place now to make
Speaker 95
31:46
sure something like this doesn't happen again yes ma'am um you know the majority or all of these funds were activity deposit funds since that time we have trained our staff extensively retrained about some getting receipts to individuals who deposit money to to the school to our
we have also been retrained our staff to when they make a deposit in the office the proper procedure for that which is counted multiple times whether it be from an activity club deposit or from a sports athletic event deposit all of those activity receipts are then matched against the bank deposits and I verify those myself
Speaker 41
32:39
thank you I don't have any other questions or comments Senator Hickey
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
32:47
you're recognized yes just do you how long was this employee with the
Speaker 74
32:53
school district do you know that she was there before I came I
Speaker 95
32:56
Kathy probably could help me with that she was there a total of six years okay
Speaker 41
33:05
thank you sir no any other questions Senator Hanner hammer you're recognized
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
33:10
Thank you. Did we go back the full six years that she was employed there, or how far
Speaker 77
33:19
back did the report go? I'm sorry. Ms. Everett? She was not in the position of the district activity bookkeeper for the full six years that she was there. So no, we did not go back the full six years. She became the district activity bookkeeper. and I think I'm correcting this, in the school year starting 2017.
And I did some spot testing in the 2017 school year and found no issues with the spot checks that I did in 2017. 2017 so in the 2018 we took it up to current at the time that we were there But previously she was a high school secretary Did she? Did
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
34:08
ago that she worked one of the gates gate four or something like that?
Speaker 77
34:15
She did not work actually the gate They would have other people do the gates, but the funds from the gates that at the basketball games volleyball games peewee games whatever type of game it might be the funds would be brought to her the next morning and she was responsible for counting those receding those depositing those in posting those and that's word that's where
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
34:42
it occurred well that's where the controls broke
down all right thank you all right any other question or comment seeing none we will consider this report
adopted thank you guys for being here today I appreciate it thank you all right our next oh
Senator Joyce Elliott
Unverified
35:07
I'm sorry Senator Elliott you're recognized mr. chair I just want to take upon a personal privilege to ask y'all to please wish Senator Chesterfield a happy birthday today absolutely yeah so I would sing to her but I don't have those talents I won't
thank you for sparing us I appreciate that all right our next item of business the next meeting of legislative joint auditing committee will be held on October 10th and 11th 2019 or at the call of the chairs is there any other new business that a member has that needs
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
35:44
to come before this committee? Senator Testerfield. Thank you, Mr. Chair, at the risk of people killing
me. One of the things that's troubling is these small, small towns, and we've discussed it a number of times,
but when you get to 201 and 100-something people, and we expect them to have the same ability as others do we have a point at which we just say you don't need to be a city seriously who's that direct
Speaker 103
36:13
that question directed to whoever can answer it
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
36:16
who would mr norman i'll throw it in
your lap i mean i'm looking at small towns whose money we've had to hold but we know
very very well if you don't have but 132 people or 201 people it's very unlikely that you're going to be able to perform your duties in a way that a larger city, even a city of 500, would be able to do it. Is there particular help we're giving
Speaker 89
36:44
them? What are we doing? Well, Senator, I appreciate your concern, and we agree with you. There are a lot of issues out there. The primary help that they get, probably with the accounting-wise and taking care of things,
are from the Municipal League. We cannot be management and go in and audit their books. Our standards would prevent us from doing that or preparing the financial statements or anything for them. And so I think they work closely with the Municipal League. There was some legislation that Senator Hickey helped sponsor a couple of sessions. I know Senator Hickey
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
37:21
had sponsored something, and I'm trying
to remember what it was because it was in response
Speaker 89
37:27
to some of the concerns. It had to do with the dissolution of municipalities under certain circumstances,
and Senator Hickey probably recalls that better than I do as far as the particulars on that. But it is an issue. I think we see it monthly in the cities and counties. And one of the issues is just finding qualified people that will step up. You know, they're taking on some responsibilities, But at the same time, they're held to standards and come down here and appear before the committee.
They're trying, in many cases, to do the best that they can with the limited resources and education that they may have in some of
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
38:13
these communities. And the other thing is the water districts. There were a plethora of water district concerns throughout this month's reports. Yes, ma'am. So what are we doing with those? because, I mean, if you read your report, I mean, I know all of you
Speaker 89
38:30
did because it's so exciting. Yes, ma'am. The water districts have certain requirements as far as being audited
or having some sort of financial report issued on them depending upon the number of users that they have. We rely basically on those private auditors to do that. But if a prosecuting attorney feels like that there's something going on there, then we do go in and look at those. But we do not, as a staff, have the resources to go in and do those. But I agree with you. The water districts, it's cash intensive a lot of times.
And that's where the shortages are going to be is
Chair
Unverified
39:11
where the money is. All right. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Chair. And y'all have a great weekend. All right.
Senator Trent Garner
Unverified
39:19
Senator Garner, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm trying to understand, I guess, the question a little bit better. Is it the argument that we should allow a mechanism for cities to dissolve so they don't receive money, so they won't have to be audited, or is the issue that we allow cities to still receive state taxpayer money but not be held accountable under audit? I'm trying to see the distinction between those two.
Senator Chesterfield, you recognize? Senator Hickey and
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
39:48
I, not me sponsoring the legislation, but we had been on
the committee that deals with those cities and those little bitty towns, and it was just heartbreaking to see folks come in really with no knowledge of what they were supposed to do. We had one couple that had a husband and wife that were the county clerk, the mayor, the da-da-da-da-da, all of it.
So I know he sponsored legislation, but I was not hearing that in the report. So I would ask that Senator Hickey explain the legislation that
we're talking about, if he wouldn't
Speaker 119
40:27
mind. Senator Hickey, do you mind? I'll attempt to. You recognize. Of course, Mr. Erie and myself, we had
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
40:34
worked on this for a long time. But we do have legislation in place that, and you all as a body wanted to give these small cities multiple chances.
So after multiple chances, if they have not performed, there is a process in place so that we, as this body, can send it over to the prosecuting attorney to dissolve it. one of the hardest parts about the legislation in that in that process will be once it gets to them if they have a water which most of them will will have water and sewer within the within the municipality where that goes but we did establish a process on how that would go and it's a step-by-step
process i think one one other thing to consider is these cities can dissolve themselves so you know That would be the easiest part if you know we get in here and maybe we should we can suggest that to them and in one of our meetings Actually, one of the mayor said, you know, I believe that would be a good a good ideal I have not seen that come come through But we did have one mayor that actually thought that maybe they had had shrank to the point that they could not cash flow and that they would do it
so Mr. Erie might could add some stuff to that because he he knows that legislation backwards and forwards also mr harry do
Chair
Unverified
42:02
you have anything to add thank you mr chairman thank you mr senator hickey i think i i don't know how far senator chesterfield wants to get down into the weeds i'm seeing not far at all so i'm happy to answer any
questions thank you senator uh Senator Johnson, you're recognized.
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
42:24
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, Senator Chesterfield, I feel your pain, and I agree with everything you said about these small communities. Yesterday, we had a city come in that had, and I don't think there was any criminality or bad will. I think they just plain didn't understand and made a mistake. Like, they put money from, they're supposed to go to the street fund and the general fund, and of course they spent it, and they came up with a plan, I guess the auditor did this
too, they were going to repay $1,200 a month until it was, or a year, until it was repaid. And that was 215 years to get that done, and I kind of, you know, and Senator Sample brought this up, and I kind of ran the math, and I thought, oh, this is not good. But in essence, I think we're dealing with a situation where I had a friend that had had a son, had a business, and I said, well, is he going to go bankrupt?
He says he can't afford to go bankrupt. He just has to go broke. And we're kind of in that situation. We've got to take care of these citizens, and people are stepping forward and trying to be the mayor or the recorder, treasurer, whatever. but it's just they either are not educated or competent. I think Mr. Norman pretty well summed up the problem. But we do need to have a mechanism where some kind of monitoring can be done before it's sitting right here on our plate.
And I would welcome all my colleagues just to kind of in the interim be thinking about that. I'm not necessarily saying do an interim study, But, you know, this problem is not going to go away. If anything, it may be getting worse because a lot of our small towns, their population base is shrinking. The leadership, such as it is, is aging in place. And, you know, I hate to say that they can't go bankrupt. They just may go broke. And these communities have water systems, sewer systems.
There's a lot of things that will have to be dealt with. So I encourage everyone to be thinking about some possible solutions and maybe in the next year or so we can come up with something that while it may not fix it,
Chair
Unverified
44:46
might make it a whole lot better. But thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Representative Rye, you're recognized. Yes,
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
44:57
sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems like a big problem that's going on, folks, is folks that are actually showing up here to let us know what's going on.
The problem has already began, and a lot of these new folks that are here weren't a part of it. So maybe we can get with Municipal League to get these folks some better training before it ever gets to this point, because once they get here, a lot of these folks actually don't even know how they got
here. Good thought, Representative Rye. I appreciate that. Are there any other questions or comments?
All right. We'll see no new business. We'll consider this meeting adjourned. Thank you for your attendance. Thank you.
Agenda
No agenda available.
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Richard Womack Chair
Unverified
Speaker 5
Representative Danny Watson
Unverified
Senator Joyce Elliott
Unverified
Speaker 22
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 41
Representative Stan Berry
Unverified
Senator Trent Garner
Unverified
Speaker 56
Speaker 58
Speaker 77
Speaker 82
Speaker 80
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
Speaker 89
Speaker 90
Speaker 95
Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr
Unverified
Speaker 74
Senator Linda Chesterfield
Unverified
Speaker 103
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 119
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified