Government Accountability Improves in Tennessee Counties

Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson is pleased to announce that all 95 Tennessee county audits for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016 have been released, and the results are very encouraging.

“We continue to see a decline in the number of audit findings across the state of Tennessee,” said Justin P. Wilson. “This is a sign of improved financial management and accountability over taxpayer money.”

The Comptroller’s Office completes the annual audits of 89 of Tennessee’s 95. The other six counties (Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, McMinn, Shelby and Washington) are audited by private Certified Public Accountants.

On average, the 89 counties audited by the Comptroller’s Office received 4.15 findings in fiscal year 2016. That’s down from an average of 4.8 findings in fiscal year 2015. Additionally, 12 of the 89 counties received clean audit reports, which means they received zero findings. This represents the highest number of clean county audit reports in history.

County governments in Tennessee are benefitting from the Tennessee General Assembly’s decision in 2015 to require local governments to establish and maintain internal controls. Special thanks goes to the County Technical Advisory Service for its role in educating and preparing local governments to be in compliance with 2015 Public Chapter 112.

The 12 counties with clean audits in fiscal year 2016 are:

· Bedford County	· Overton County
· Blount County	· Tipton County
· Greene County	· Unicoi County
· Hawkins County	· Warren County
· Lawrence County	· Weakley County
· Lincoln County	· Williamson County

“I am very encouraged by the fiscal year 2016 county audit results,” said Comptroller Justin P. Wilson. “Even the smallest county government is a multi-million dollar operation, and it’s vital that county leaders, elected officials, and all 95 Audit Committees take their responsibilities seriously. These results show that Tennessee is on the right track.”

If you suspect fraud, waste or abuse of public money in Tennessee, call the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline at (800) 232-5454, or file a report online at: www.comptroller.tn.gov/hotline. Follow us on twitter: @TNCOT

Media contact: John Dunn, Public Information Officer, (615) 401-7755 or john.dunn@cot.tn.gov