MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tuesday night, several hours after the Tennessee Comptroller’s office announced it is sending a team of auditors to the Shelby County Clerk’s Office to clear up inaccurate revenue reports, Clerk Wanda Halbert sent the Shelby County Commissioners, Shelby County Trustee and the state Comptroller a new set of reports that she described as “the official signed copies.”
But according to Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman, not only are Halbert's latest revenue reports still wrong, they also don’t match up with the previous fee reports.
“Don't match the prior ones - we don't know why they don't match the prior ones; they have new errors that the other ones didn't have,” Newman said.
Newman said this has created more work for the Shelby County Trustee staff and the incoming state auditors and made a bad situation even worse.
“The refunds are listed on the bottom rather than each category, the discrepancy in the amount of the clerk's fees now appears on two different reports than it appeared before,” she said, listing more of the inaccuracies.
Newman says the one thing the documents do share is one of the most glaring problems: the wheel tax still is not properly split up. In July 2023, the Shelby County Commission raised the wheel tax by $25 to pay for two new schools and Regional One renovations.
“Because they go to two different places, so they're going to two different funds,” she said.
In a statement released Wednesday, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said:
"...With the help of Tennessee's Comptroller, I am confident that the County Trustee and our other county finance officials will receive the information they have requested from the Clerk. This will enable us to deliver another on-time budget without unnecessary delay..."
Shelby County Clerk customers ABC24 talked to just hope the problem gets solved.
“Somebody’s wrong on that,” said Memphis resident Jeffrey Hogan, who added he had never usually had problems with the clerk’s office. “Seems like (Halbert) is trying.”
The Comptroller’s office told ABC24 these new reports do not change their plans to perform their state audit after arriving Monday.
After pointing out the mistakes on the new reports, Newman says Halbert sent her the following response:
“The County Clerk accountants are reviewing the aforementioned and checking their figures. We will respond expeditiously.”
Halbert has still not responded to ABC24’s repeated attempts for comment.