Norris gets ‘clean’ 2023 audit report, despite sewer violations
Norris achieved an overall “clean” audit for last year, according to the report the city’s auditor gave to the City Council on Monday night.
The auditor, Travis Lowe of Pugh CPAs in Knoxville, also had high praise for the city’s staff for its oversight of the Norris budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023.
He gave particular mention to City Manager Adam Ledford, City Recorder Sandy Johnson, and Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited for their roles in cleaning up the city’s financial reporting in the wake of major staff changes in the previous fiscal year.
Council members also applauded Johnson for her recent achievement in becoming a certified municipal financial officer – or CMFO – through the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service.
Still appearing in the city’s audit report, though, is Norris’ ongoing noncompliance issue with state wastewater treatment regulations.
Although the city is working through a years-long project to correct the environmental violations, Lowe said the problem will remain on the city’s audit reports until the state releases the city from further liability.
Lowe praised city staff for correcting other problems that were noted in last year’s audit report, including some procedural issues with bank-account reconciliations.
This year’s audit was completed on time, whereas last year’s was late. During his audit report last year, Lowe attributed the delay to staff turnover at the city offices during 2022, which included finding a new city manager and city recorder.
The Water Commission problem listed in the audit report presented to the City Council on Monday night concerned a “Water Quality Control Act violation” that resulted in the city being fined by the state of Tennessee in 2022 over the dumping of contaminated sewage into nearby Buffalo Creek from the city’s sewage-treatment plant.
Lowe last year noted that the sewage problem was being addressed by a multi-year action plan approved by the state, but said then that it would remain an issue on the city’s audit reports for the next few years until the problems are fixed.
Norris expects to spend up to $7 million to remedy the sewage issues, which were outlined by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in a “director’s order” to the mayor in February 2022, which found the city in violation of water-quality regulations concerning discharges from the sewage-treatment plant on East Norris Road near Andersonville Highway.
In other business Monday night, the council:
• Was told by Ledford that the city offices will resume their previous schedule of being open for public business on Wednesday afternoons, beginning Jan. 31.
The offices will remain open until 4:30 p.m., rather than closing at noon, as they have been for the past year or more.
Ledford said the Wednesday afternoon closing had been initiated to give the city staff more time to focus on getting the city’s financial reporting in order in the aftermath of the 2022 staff turnovers.
He said that extra focus is no longer needed.
• Set a workshop for 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, on a proposal to erect new signs at the city’s two main entrances.