Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Auditor busts cities pocketing traffic fines

State Auditor Stacey Pickering issued the following statement. 


State Auditor Stacey Pickering Puts Cities on Notice to Prepare to Pay Court Assessment Fees 
to Mississippi Treasury
 
JACKSON, Miss. – Today, State Auditor Stacey Pickering notified local government officials in the Towns of Tchula and Raleigh, City of Shaw, and Coahoma County to prepare to pay delinquent court assessment fees to the Mississippi Treasurer’s Office or face receiving a formal demand from the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor (OSA).

Court assessment fees are commonly collected in association with traffic violations and misdemeanor offenses, and are required by state law to be deposited with the State Treasurer on a monthly basis.

The Town of Tchula has collected but not appropriately deposited $68,556.42 in assessments. The Town of Raleigh has collected but not appropriately deposited $47,076.72. The City of Shaw has collected but not appropriately deposited $14,935.35. Coahoma County has collected but not appropriately deposited $18,668.27.

OSA is aware of many other municipal and county governments failing to properly deposit assessment fees and has been reviewing this process for approximately one year. During these reviews, over $350,000 has been identified and deposited. OSA anticipates hundreds of thousands more dollars to be properly submitted before the completion of the audit review process.

Formal demands have not been issued yet. Each entity has thirty days to properly submit the assessment funds to the Treasurer’s Office. If those funds have not been submitted in that timeframe, a formal demand will be issued.
 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure Shaw and Tchula have each invested this money wisely and can readily access and pay this overdue bill. Both have very fiscally astute mayors.

Anonymous said...

LOL, I'll bet Tchula doesn't have $100 in the bank.

Anonymous said...

Pickering should hire Michael Guest's company to collect those amounts. He has lots of experience in that area.

Know how fast yew were goin' boy? said...

Shaw should have streets paved in gold with the money they make from their permanent speed trap.

So should Waterproof, LA.

Anonymous said...

Pickering is sad. His press conferences basically say, "Look I how powerless and impotent I am!" He's just running for the next office and wants to look like he's accomplished something. But if NO ONE goes to jail, he's part of the problem. Another day in the paradise that is Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of this before. I assumed if you paid fees in a municipal court, they went to the municipality. There likely are "many other municipal and county governments failing to properly deposit assessment fees"

Anonymous said...

4:51

How can the state recuperate its lost assets when it is PAYING to house embezzlers who are in jail and not receiving income to pay back the state?

Anonymous said...

The newest scam by some metro cities is to dismiss tickets if the defendant pays $50 resulting in the city receiving $50 and the city not paying any assessments to the state -- city gets money, violator is happy, and state gets cheated.

Anonymous said...

Many cities have done this for years. Why is he just now making collection efforts?

Anonymous said...

Campaigning for an election to another office. Pickering is a political animal just like the rest. Hard to believe he can sleep at night being an ordained minister and leader in the national guard. That's Mississippi for ya. He wanted to erase the shadow of his uncle Charles, but instead furthered his cloudy, murky character into the present.


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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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