Shelby Co. trustee to un-post clerk's office incorrect revenue reports; payments to schools behind

Brooke Muckerman, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert speaks to people waiting in line for motor vehicle renewals and registrations while giving a tour of the clerk’s office to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert speaks to people waiting in line for motor vehicle renewals and registrations while giving a tour of the clerk’s office to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.

During Wednesday's Shelby County Board of Commissioners committee meeting, Trustee Regina Newman told commissioners she will be un-posting revenue reports from the Shelby County Clerk's office because incorrect reports have not been reconciled.

Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. said that it would be impossible to have an accurate budget if the clerk was not submitting revenue reports accurately. Director of Finance Audrey Tipton said that is true.

"In order for us to accurately put together a proposed budget we need to have accurate numbers. We have been also working with Trustee Newman and trying to get accurate numbers for wheel tax," Tipton said. "The finance department has been receiving reports but that's all we get. We get reports we don't add the money. We have to depend on Trustee Newman and the county clerk to reconcile those numbers."

Newman also said that the previous chief financial officer for the clerk's office retired a month ago, and to her knowledge, no one has replaced them. County Clerk Wanda Halbert confirmed that the former CFO has retired, and they are in the process of replacing them.

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert gives a tour of the clerk’s office to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert gives a tour of the clerk’s office to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, January 5, 2024.

The conversation about the clerk started when Ford asked Newman about figures that were not correct during a budget retreat in January, and if they had been corrected yet. It was during Ford's questioning that Newman revealed that revenue reports from July to September 2023 would be unposted, and the number associated with the wheel tax would be lower.

Ford said his concern was that because there is no true number attached to the wheel tax revenue, there is no way to know if Shelby County is hitting numbers near the forecasted amount.

"We need that we need the numbers. Next week is March. We get a proposed budget in April," Ford said.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury has been contacted about the incorrect reports and to help get accurate reports to separate the wheel tax money out, Newman said.

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The current reported figure for wheel tax revenue is about $11 million, but the overall forecasted amount is over $44 million for the fiscal year.

A portion of the wheel tax is supposed to go straight to the municipal school projects funding, another portion is going towards the Regional One Hospital rebuild. Payment to the schools is behind because there is no way to know how much money the wheel tax is actually bringing in because the Clerk is not reporting revenues correctly, Tipton said.

"We're behind and paying (the schools) because we don't want to keep paying on numbers that we're not 100% sure about," Tipton said.

Newman also said that the clerk did not start to implement the wheel tax hike until Aug. 1. The increase was supposed to be implemented on July 1.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at (901) 484-6225, brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County payments to schools late due to clerk's incorrect revenue reports