Month: December 2018

A high school principal in Claiborne County abused his position and had school maintenance employees do a seemingly endless list of personal errands for him, according to a new audit. Those personal errands even included the principal making those employees travel out of state, the audit said. This happened at Claiborne High School in New Tazewell, according to the audit. Members of the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office said they began investigating after school officials discovered and reported possible employee misconduct, missing funds, and operational deficiencies. Among other things, the principal, who has since resigned, instructed a maintenance employee to drive his personal truck during work hours to Middlesboro, KY. for repairs, auditors wrote. “The maintenance employee stated he left the school during his lunch period and drove the truck to Middlesboro, where he waited several hours at the dealership before the repairs were completed,” according to the audit. The principal, auditors wrote, also used those employees to do the following, all at taxpayer expense: • Haul cattle the principal owned to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on three separate occasions. • Burn brush on the principal’s farm during work hours. One maintenance employee worked two hours on the farm before…

A former customer service representative with the Northeast Knox Utility District misappropriated more than $8,000 by using two separate schemes, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. A Knox County grand jury indicted that woman, Sonya Sherrow, earlier this year on one count of theft over $2,500. The grand jury also indicted her on two counts of forgery, one count of money laundering, and one count of official misconduct, according to a press release. “The investigation began after the Comptroller’s Office was notified that district officials had discovered unusual adjustments to customer accounts. Investigators found that Sherrow misappropriated district collections totaling at least $8,507 by using two separate schemes,” Comptrollers wrote in their audit. “Most of the misappropriation came from fictitious adjustments totaling $6,346 that Sherrow made to district customers’ accounts. In many cases, a customer would pay his or her utility bill in full, and Sherrow would keep the money for herself. She would then adjust the customer’s account records to indicate a zero balance.” District officials, Comptrollers went on to say, did not have a written policy for account adjustments, and the adjustment review process was inadequate. “Additionally, Sherrow employed a lapping scheme to conceal her…

Another company, Indigo Ag, is getting corporate welfare to come to Memphis. According to The Daily Memphian, Memphis’ Economic Development Growth Engine gave what the paper called a modest incentive of $109,000 in city and county tax savings over 15 years and a $150,000 grant. Indigo Ag will bring 625 new corporate jobs to downtown Memphis and will pay an average salary of $92,383, the paper reported. “The salary level revealed Friday by the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) staff is part of the equation the agency used to propose an incentive for the ag-tech company to establish its North American commercial operations headquarters in Memphis,” according to The Daily Memphian. “But the company will likely receive about $5 million in total incentives, counting $4.5 million proposed from the state and more grants from the Center City Development Board.” From EDGE, Indigo Ag wants $259,807 in local tax savings and grants over 15 years. This, the paper went on to say, is in return for adding 625 jobs that pay more than $90,000 yearly, The Daily Memphian said. “The various local and state agencies made public the incentive proposals two days after Indigo Ag, along with state and local officials,…