employee. Receipts were not issued for these checks, and they were not accounted for in any manner. Since bank personnel had allowed an office employee to personally cash checks made payable to the Office of Clerk and Master, the bank has agreed to assume responsibility for any office funds stolen by this employee and has reimbursed the Office of Clerk and Master $3,594.61 for the checks cashed by this employee. It should be noted that because this employee was taking checks from the office's mail before they were receipted, other funds may have been taken that have not been discovered. We have discussed this theft with the district attorney general. _____________________________ OFFICE OF ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY FINDING 02.06 THE ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY CERTIFIED CHANGES TO THE 2001 TAX ROLLS THAT WERE NOT ALLOWABLE BY STATE STATUTES (Material Noncompliance Under Government Auditing Standards) The assessor of property certified over 900 changes to the 2001 tax rolls, and many of these changes did not appear to be allowed by state statute. The change certifications prepared by the Assessor of Property's Office include several reasons for changes to land, improvement, and market values that relied upon the assessor's judgment. Section 67-5509, Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA), allows the assessor of property to certify changes to the tax rolls for errors or omissions for "clerical mistakes, involving no judgment of or discretion by the assessor." Section 67-5-1402, TCA, gives the county Board of Equalization the authority to adjust properties that it determines to be improperly assessed or to adjust for errors arising from clerical mistakes. RECOMMENDATION The assessor of property should only certify changes to the tax rolls that are allowable by state statute. MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE - ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY The year 2001 was the fifth reappraisal year program for Putnam County. Upon completion of the reappraisal, assessment change notices were mailed to property owners, and four newspaper articles were published. This allowed property owners the opportunity to examine their appraisal, therefore creating an abnormal number of changes. REBUTTAL The notification process was in compliance with statutes. As noted in the finding, Section 67-5-1402, TCA, gives the county Board of Equalization the authority to adjust properties that it determines to be improperly assessed or to adjust for errors arising from clerical mistakes. The county Board of Equalization serves an annual term beginning June 1 to perform its statutory duties. After the completion of the board's duties, any changes to the assessment rolls except those errors or omissions for "clerical mistakes, involving no 158 judgment of or discretion by the assessor" can be appealed to the Assessment Appeals Commission and finally the state Board of Equalization. MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE - ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY It is significant to note that Putnam County has 33,517 parcels, and only 2.5 percent of those parcels were changed. The changes consisted of decreases and increases. The state Department of Property Assessments has never questioned any changes made or presented. The statute states, "clerical mistakes, involving no judgment of or discretion by the assessor," and the finding states the changes did not appear to be allowed. REBUTTAL Again, Section 67-5-509, TCA, only allows the assessor of property to certify changes to the tax rolls for errors or omissions for "clerical mistakes, involving no judgment of or discretion by the assessor." The statute does not permit the changing of any other assessments by the assessor for any other reasons; therefore, the number of changes, increases, or decreases, is of no consequence. The following were some of the reasons for the changes by the assessor's office: adjustment to market, change in topography, and profit and loss statement. These did not appear to be "correctable errors." MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE - ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY All 95 counties in Tennessee operate in the same manner, and to my knowledge, none of the counties with 2001 reappraisal programs was audited by the Division of County Audit. REBUTTAL Tennessee statutes control the assessment of property for taxation in all of Tennessee. The Division of Property Assessments monitors the operations of local assessors and sends a copy of the monitoring report to the Division of County Audit to include in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The Division of County Audit is responsible for the audit of the revenue collection process, and it was during this audit of the Putnam County Trustee's Office that we noted an unusual number of property tax refunds for the 2001 tax year. A large amount of refunds of any type of county taxes or revenues directly affects the budgeting process and the revenue flow for county governments. Our examination of the reason for the refunds in the Trustee's Office led to this finding. MANAGEMENT'S RESPONSE - ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY The property assessor's job is to locate, define, and appraise all property in Putnam County, and if that appraisal is not correct, it should be corrected. REBUTTAL We agree with the duties of the assessor of property as stated. Tennessee statutes control the assessment of property for taxation in all of Tennessee. The location, definition, and appraisal of property should be completed in compliance with these statutes. 159 OFFICE OF SHERIFF FINDING 02.07 THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE HAD DEFICIENCIES BOOKING PROCEDURES (Noncompliance Under Government Auditing Standards) IN ITS The office did not maintain records to document that all arrestees were fingerprinted and that the fingerprints were filed with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), as required by Section 8-4-115, Tennessee Code Annotated. This statute requires that law enforcement agencies take two full sets of classifiable fingerprints at the time of a person's arrest and file the fingerprints with the TBI. RECOMMENDATION The Sheriff's Office should document that all arrestees are fingerprinted and that the fingerprints are filed with the TBI, as required by state statute. ________________________________ FINDING 02.08 FUNDS WERE NOT DEPOSITED WITHIN THREE DAYS OF COLLECTION (Noncompliance Under Government Auditing Standards) Funds were not deposited to the office bank account within three days of collection. Section 5-8-207, Tennessee Code Annotated, requires county officials to deposit all public funds within three days of collection. RECOMMENDATION All funds should be deposited to the office bank account within three days of collection, as required by state statute. ________________________________ OTHER FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FINDING 02.09 DUTIES WERE NOT SEGREGATED ADEQUATELY IN THE OFFICES OF HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT, DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS, TRUSTEE, CIRCUIT AND GENERAL SESSIONS COURTS CLERK, CLERK AND MASTER, REGISTER, AND SHERIFF (Internal Control - Reportable Condition Under Government Auditing Standards) Duties were not segregated adequately among the officials and employees in the Offices of Highway Superintendent, Director of Schools, Trustee, Circuit and General Sessions Courts 160