By CHRISTOPHER BUTLER

Government officials throughout Tennessee wasted almost $1 million in taxpayer money, according to audits that the State Comptroller’s Office filed during the month of September.

NO BIDDING

• Quebeck Walling Public Utility District of White County: Officials with the Quebeck-Walling Public Utility District purchased equipment in excess of $10,000 without going through a bidding process. State law specifies that the District must receive bids for purchases in excess of $10,000.

SIGNFICANT WATER LOSS

(The following government utilities experienced excessive losses of water, which resulted in some water going unbilled, thus leading to a loss in their water districts’ net earnings. In these cases, ratepayers are typically charged higher rates than necessary to cover the losses.)

• Double Springs Utility District of Putnam County:  The Double Springs Utility District lost almost 38 percent of the water it purchased, which is deemed excessive by state standards. In all, the district lost almost 89 million gallons of water.

• Harbor Utility District of Benton County:  The Harbor Utility District did not account for almost 62 percent (or 12,000 gallons) of water pumped.

LOSS OF TAXPAYER MONEY

• Lone Oak Utility District: The Lone Oak Utility District’s Enterprise Fund operated at a loss of $48,549 for the fiscal year, which was the result of depreciation on fixed assets acquired with grant funds.

• City of South Pittsburg: Officials in the City of South Pittsburg improperly took almost $750,000 from its local utility department after they misinterpreted a 21-year-old- city ordinance.

• Elizabethton Tennessee Board of Education: State Comptrollers reported that the Elizabethton Tennessee Board of Education had a  significant deficiency of cash reserves at its junior high school, contributing to a general fund deficit of $1,200.

• American Long Term Specialty Hospital/Americare Health and Rehabilitation Center, Memphis

• The American Health and Rehabilitation Center improperly billed the Medicaid Program for 932 hospital and therapeutic leave days while operating below the 85 percent occupancy requirement. As a result, the facility overbilled Medicaid for $131,262 from 2008 through 2010.

• The facility overcharged Medicaid residents’ trust fund accounts for haircuts, which are Medicaid covered services. As a result of the inappropriate charges, $8,396 was lost.

• The facility had five residents with trust fund balances exceeding the Medicaid resource limit of $2,000.

Christopher Butler is the editor of Tennessee Watchdog and the Director of Government Accountability for the Beacon Center of Tennessee. Contact him at chris@beacontn.org

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