Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria Approve Plastic Bag Taxes

Five-cent taxes on single-use plastic bags are spreading across Virginia’s more urban localities. On Saturday, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria adopted the local tax ordinances, while Fairfax County adopted a similar ordinance on September 14. The taxes take effect on January 1, 2022.

“Arlington is proud to take this step to reduce plastic bag waste in our community and to do so with our regional partners,” Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said in a press release. “We have long sought the legal authority for this small fee as a way to protect our environment and become a more sustainable community. We look forward to working with residents and neighbors on implementation.”

Read the full story

The Tennessee Star Report’s Gill and Leahy Discuss WCS Superintendent Mike Looney and the ‘Unresponsive’ Williamson County School Board

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy discussed the legal implications of Williamson County schools Superintendent Mike Looney who has allegedly gone rogue and avoiding the law for implementing racist and anti-American un-authorized in-service teacher training modules. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed the lack of response from the Williamson County school board members and the possible legal ramifications due to evidenced neglect for Tennessee State law. Gill: One of the lead stories at Tennessee Star today, focuses on again this Williamson County video series and it’s not X rated it’s just I rated for idiot. (Leahy laughs) Gill: It’s the I rated Mike Looney video series that promotes the racist idea that ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST and it’s WHITE PRIVILEGE if you’re not being successful and you’re not white it’s not your fault. It’s because of all those white people that are keeping you down. And that’s the agenda that Mike Looney and the Williamson County school board have decided needed to be taught as in-service training to teachers.…

Read the full story

Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson Faults McNairy County Leaders for Yet Another Lousy Audit

Over in McNairy County, there’s a lot of room for improvement with how county officials manage taxpayer money, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. “The county’s audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 includes 11 findings of noncompliance or significant deficiency within county government offices,” Comptrollers wrote in a press release. “Eight of those findings were reported in the prior year’s audit and have not been corrected.” No one at the county mayor’s office was available to speak to The Tennessee Star. Auditors reported finding problems in the offices of the county mayor, sheriff, highway commissioner, and director of schools. These findings included expenditures exceeding approved appropriations, accounting deficiencies, a cash overdraft, and inadequate internal controls over software programs. “McNairy County has had at least nine audit findings in each of the last five fiscal years,” Comptrollers said in the press release. “Meanwhile, other Tennessee counties have experienced improved audit results.” Among the findings, according to the audit itself: • Management failed to hold spending to the limits authorized by the county. Expenditures exceeded total appropriations approved by the county commission in the General, Solid Waste/Sanitation, Drug Control, and General Debt Service funds by $1,286,619, $98,663,…

Read the full story

Smith County Must Pay $35,000 for Not Complying with Obamacare, Audit Says

The federal government assessed the Smith County School System more than $35,000 for not complying with Obamacare, according to a state audit released this week. Smith County taxpayers, of course, will have to pick up the slack and pay that fine. The audit, however, did not offer specifics. “During the year, the School Department paid a penalty of $37,180 to the Internal Revenue Service for failure to comply with the Affordable Care Act for 2015,” according to Tennessee Comptrollers. “The School Department provides health insurance coverage to its employees; however, this coverage was not in compliance with federal regulations for certain employees. This deficiency resulted from a lack of management oversight.” Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason, in an email, deferred all The Tennessee Star’s questions to Director of Schools Barry Smith. Smith, on the phone, however, deferred all questions to the school system’s Chief Financial Officer Norma Mitchell. Mitchell did not return two requests seeking comment. Other county governments in Tennessee have had their finances suffer due to Obamacare. As The Tennessee Watchdog reported in 2015, an audit from Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson said Obamacare might have forced Robertson County officials to choose between raising taxes and breaking the law.…

Read the full story

Tennessee Comptrollers Blast Decatur County for Mismanaging Taxpayer Money

The Decatur County government has just received less than admirable state audit findings. With 11 findings as opposed to the previous year’s eight, that’s putting it mildly. In a press release, for instance, Comptrollers say this year’s results “leave much room for improvement.” “The audit findings reveal many problems including expenditures exceeding appropriations authorized by the County Commission, failure to reconcile accounts, and poor record keeping. Findings were written for the offices of County Mayor (pictured above), Road Supervisor, Director of Schools, and Assessor of Property,” Comptrollers said in the emailed press release. “Auditors also had to make material adjustments to the county’s financial statements to ensure accuracy. This is a strong indicator that the county has ineffective controls over the maintenance of its accounting records.” The audit also includes an adverse opinion on the county’s component units. That is because the financial statements do not include the Decatur County General Hospital. These financial statements were not available from other auditors at the date of Comptroller’s report. Decatur County is in west Tennessee. Among only a few of the audit’s findings: • Expenditures exceeded total appropriations approved by the County Commission in the General and Special Purpose funds by $516,433 and…

Read the full story

Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office Made Fewer Audit Findings in FY 2017

Members of the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office say they had far fewer city and county audit findings in Fiscal Year 2017 than they did the previous fiscal year. This has gone on for the past few years, said John Dunn, spokesman for the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office. “For example, in FY 2016, we had 383 audit findings spread across the 90 Tennessee counties that are directly audited by the Comptroller’s Office (an average of 4.26 per county),” Dunn said. “In FY 2017 we had 338 findings in those same 90 counties (an average of 3.76 per county). The trend in declining audit findings has been consistent for several years in a row.” Dunn told The Tennessee Star he and other Comptroller officials credit auditors and investigators for finding problems. But Dunn also said he credits programs such as MTAS’ Certified Municipal Finance Officer program and CTAS’ Certified County Finance Officer program, which help to develop competent finance officials in Tennessee’s cities and counties. “Additionally, the legislature passed Public Chapter 112 in 2015 which required all local governments to establish and maintain internal controls to safeguard public funds and property,” Dunn said. Tennessee Comptrollers still, however, do find examples of waste, fraud, and…

Read the full story