Lawrenceville Audit Cites Oversight

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an investigation into record-keeping practices and regulatory compliance has brought to light problems that Lawrenceville taxpayers may have paid significantly for.  

The report uncovered "unapproved expenditures, an absence of written controls concerning transactions, assets and compliance, and general disorganization within Lawrenceville City Hall from September 2006 to December 2010," according to the AJC.  

The report found:

• City officials didn’t notify council members and may have improperly paid for $184,000 in repairs to private property following the September 2009 floods.
• The city failed to maintain a database of supporting documents for construction of the police station, noting that the files were “disorganized and difficult to locate.”
• Change orders totaling about $379,000 for street paving and curb improvements in the Forest Hills subdivision in 2008 were rubber-stamped without approval of the council.
• Covering up of safety code violations by paying fines worth thousands of dollars without approval
• Misplaced equipment and lack of inventory on city's general ledger

that over the investigated four year period, under former Mayor Rex Millsaps' administration, the city spent $807,000 on department heads authorization alone with Hodge Construction Company, seemingly without mayor and council approval.

Councilman Tony Powell said the way that this was done was if expenditures were beneath the $40,000 threshold that requires council’s approval, department heads could spend say up to $50,000,000 on one project, as long as it was done in increments below the $40,000 threshold.  

Following the most recent report, Powell, who called for the report, said, "“This is the most important city operational event in the last 30 years.  It goes to the heart of protecting the city’s interest.”