On Tuesday, State Auditor Mike Harmon released the audit of the sheriff’s settlement – 2022 taxes for former Caldwell County Sheriff Chris Noel, which shows one finding.
State law mandates the annual audit of each county sheriff’s accounts. To comply, the auditor issues two reports per year: one for the audit of the sheriff’s tax account and another for the audit of the fee account used for office operations.
The auditor confirms that the financial statement of the former sheriff accurately reflects the taxes charged, credited, and paid from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, in accordance with the regulatory accounting standards.
As part of the audit process, the auditor must comment on noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grants. The auditor must also comment on material weaknesses involving internal control over financial operations and reporting.
The audit contains the following findings:
The former Caldwell County Sheriff’s tax settlement was found to be materially misstated, which Harmon’s office said was previously reported in the prior year’s audit as Finding 2021-001. The auditor discovered that the tax settlement presented and approved by the fiscal court was incomplete and inaccurate. It failed to include $414,450 of official receipt taxes, $17,276 of exoneration decreases, and $397,175 of real estate and tangible property taxes transferred to the incoming sheriff. The presented tax settlement did not provide a comprehensive and accurate report of taxes as of December 31, 2022. The bookkeeper admitted to being unaware of how to handle the outgoing sheriff’s tax settlement.
Harmon’s office recommended the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office to thoroughly review future tax settlements to ensure their completeness and accuracy before submitting them for approval.
Former Sheriff Noels explained in the audit report that the sheriff’s settlement was based on collections during his tenure. They cited a misunderstanding of the requested completion and limitations with the tax software company for not separating the outgoing and incoming sheriff’s columns. The presented settlement did not include the total predicted numbers for the entire tax season, as the sheriff served for only two months. The incoming sheriff’s official receipt was also not provided. Despite this, all receipts and disbursements were properly accounted for and balanced.
The sheriff’s responsibilities include collecting property taxes, providing law enforcement, and performing services for the county fiscal court and courts of justice. The sheriff’s office is funded through statutory commissions and fees collected in conjunction with these duties.
The audit report can be found on the auditor’s website.
