Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson says the theft of public funds is prevalent in the state.
The comptroller released the annual Report of Cash Shortages yesterday. The report details the money stolen during the year, as well as stolen money that remains unrecovered.
Wilson said the amount of new theft for the year outpaces the amount recovered: the report found about $450,000 in new shortages; almost $238,000 was recovered. More than $775,000 in total public funds remains missing from Tennessee's 95 counties.
The report includes information from annual financial reports for the counties: 89 counties are audited by the Comptroller’s office and 6 counties are audited by private accounting firms.
