Appraiser’s budget not adding up

Property Appraiser Sharon Cox is trying to clean up a significant budget discrepancy, and the process is leaving the Jackson County Commission with more questions than answers.
Commissioners tabled a decision Tuesday on whether to approve the budget amendment, until they have more information about how and when the situation developed.
According to a chart obtained from the Department of Revenue, prepared by the bookkeeper in the office of the property appraiser, salary totals are not accurate for any employee in the office, other than Cox.
Cox is seeking to rectify the record, and claims the discrepancy began with the administration of her predecessor, Liz Alford. However, she said it continued to worsen over time under her own stewardship.
Cox said Alford gave significant raises toward the end of her term, and that those may not have been depicted in the budget going forward. With that inherited discrepancy, Cox realigned some duties and the salaries changed again.
But the chart prepared by her office may not have reflected all the changes that began before and during her administration. The chart also may not reflect the annual base increases each employee was given each year.
The chart is meant to show the annual rate of pay, compared to the adjustment that needs to be made. Cox now says she’s not sure the chart reflects those unadjusted numbers accurately. She plans to re-check the figures and may adjust the chart when she brings more information to the commission.
She is asking for an adjustment of $40,706, which matches exactly the difference between the unadjusted figures, and the adjustments she’s asking for.
Cox said she’s found enough money in her budget to cover the adjustment, by delaying some mapping costs she had planned for the upcoming year, and making other minor line-item adjustments.
Commission Chairman Jeremy Branch said a Department of Revenue representative told him it appears Cox used money from an unfilled but funded position to meet her escalating salary budget.
Cox acknowledges she realized the depth of the discrepancy when she filled an open position, and realized she needed to clear up the books.
The budget discrepancies for her office are found in every salaried employee’s total.
In two cases, workers make significantly less than was reflected in the budget for 2009, based on the chart provided to the commission.  Commissioners say Cox omitted that chart in the material she sent to the commission, although Cox said she was under the impression that it had already been sent.
The Department of Revenue ultimately oversees the property appraiser’s budget, although the county commission does have some say in the matter, as a contributor to the budget.
Commissioners want to see how the salary totals changed during her administration. Cox said she has reflected all the changes she made, but the chart says otherwise.
The chart shows one worker making $24,191, while the individual actually makes $19,008.  The budget shows another making $43,107, when that person really makes $38,692.
In another 12 cases, the workers make more than reported for the the fiscal year, which ended in September.
Cox’s second in command, for instance, makes $55,272, instead of the $46,203 shown on the chart, a difference of $9,069.
Differences in salary range from a low of $2,698 to a high of $8,128.
Cox said she has shown the accurate numbers, in at least some form, in her budgets. She thinks the figures in the chart reflect something else, and she is looking further into the matter.
“We don’t want to make Ms. Cox responsible for anything that happened prior to her watch, but at the same time, looking at the chart, its the only interpretation we’re left with,” Branch said. “This is the same budget that we haggled over at budget time in trying to reduce it by $12,000.  She said she had a very tight budget, and we ultimately lost that battle with DOR. Now she’s suddenly found $40,000 to make this adjustment she needs. We just have some questions before we take any action. We’re trying to get down to the bottom of what has happened here.”