CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Some Hamilton County commissioners took offense to a report that they had inappropriately used travel funds for routine travel.
Every Hamilton County commissioner is allowed $12,500 for reimbursable travel to certain events.
However, a report by the Chattanooga Times-Free Press this week raised questions whether or not Commissioners were using those funds to travel from home to commission meetings at the Hamilton County Courthouse
Commissioner Gene-O Shipley was one of the five commissioners named in the article as having received payments for traveling back and forth to commission meetings.
Commissioners Joe Graham, Jeff Eversole, Mike Chauncey, and Lee Helton were the other four listed.
Shipley on particular was upset about the topic when speaking about it on Wednesday in a back and forth exchange with the county’s auditor, Chris McCollough.
Shipley, who said the article told him he owed $462, brought a psychical check to McCollough in a dramatic moment during Wednesday’s meeting.
He says that he was never informed that he would be violating any policy until this report came out.
He told McCollough, “Before you give us a letter you drug us through the Chattanooga Times for everyone to read.”
McCollough responded, “Mr. Shipley, I did not reach out to the Times-Free Press for that audit. They reached out to me.”
In McCollough’s audit released on July 30 and available on the Hamilton County Government website, he wrote that in his opinion, this use of travel funds violated IRS and state code.
He views the Commissioners as county employees under tax law.
McCollough told commissioners, “An employee does not get qualifications for a home office. So driving from your home office to the commission meeting is not a reimbursable expense.”
Hamilton County’s Finance Director Lee Brouner said this practice of reimbursing travel from home to commission meetings has been commonplace for at least 25 years.
Some commissioners feel this series of actions by the auditor is an overreach by a non-election government official.
Commissioner David Sharpe, who was not listed in that article, said, “When that employee’s employment is tied directly to a mayor, it’s a direct conflict of interest. We have divisions of power for a reason. The Commission is here to provide oversight for the citizens of Hamilton County for the government.”
Others also say they feel these rules were not explicitly clear.
Commissioner Joe Graham, who said he brought a $290.38 check to clear up his debt, said, “It was first brought to my attention about a month ago when the auditor mentioned something about mileage but didn’t go into explicit detail about it. I didn’t really know anything about it until I read about it in the paper this week.”
Shipley told McCollough, “You owe us an apology… We were unaware of some of what was going on, and we have paid our money back for something that was going on for over 25 years.”
Commissioner Graham says he plans to convene a meeting of the Commission’s Legal Committee to figure out a solution to this issue.
