County Clerk Wanda Halbert asked to comply with auditors in Shelby County Commission resolution
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert said her office has nothing to hide as the county commission considers a resolution requiring her to comply with requests for financial data needed for the county’s annual audit due on December 31.
The Shelby County Commission Audit Committee discussed the resolution Wednesday morning. Commissioner David Bradford Jr., who sponsored the resolution, said the third-party auditor is having trouble getting financial statements and transactions from the clerk’s office.
“The third-party auditor that has been trying to work with the clerk’s office has not been receiving the information they need to complete their task. So, working with the mayor’s office, I came up with this resolution to hopefully get this in front of us,” Bradford said.
Halbert attended the meeting and said her office is willing to work with auditors but faces challenges in producing the requested information. Her office’s Chief Administrative Officer said they haven’t seen anyone in their office in two weeks to work on the information request.
“We’re not trying to ignore any of the auditors. We are more than willing to work with them. But they are asking for things we had to produce and find ourselves, and a lot of it didn’t exist,” Halbert said.
Halbert said the county has needed a forensic audit for years and that she requested one when she first took office.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see, walk in the building and see, that there’s a problem. Exactly what the problem is? You don’t know. So we asked for a forensic audit. We never received that audit,” she said.
Following the meeting, Halbert shared her frustration with the current audit process, saying it has created a disconnect between her office and the commission.
“We absolutely have the documentation. If anything has fallen through the cracks, no one has said anything to me about it,” she said.
Halbert said her office will work to help Shelby County address its financial issues.
“The infrastructure is just completely worn out, and that’s why we are just like the county commission. We want to see every single penny we touched in this organization,” she said.
The full commission will vote on the resolution Monday.
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