June 25, 2006 Noe Statement Part II

Part II Scroll up to see Part I of the Statement. Scroll down to continue with Part III and Part IV.

5. The Mayor and his Finance Department took actions in fiscal year 2001 to alter the expenditures in numerous funds, the result being that reported line item and department expenditures in the 2001 audit were not a true record, and in fact were an intentionally false and manipulated record, of expenditures. Result: Neither the officials nor county commissioners know the real costs for departments.

6. For many years, until arrival of the state auditors, the Mayor never even brought budgets for several funds (DUI, Sheriff’s Special Revenue, Drug Control) to county commission for approval. Instead, he just made whatever payments he chose to make out of those funds, all in violation of state law requiring that any county expenditure be made only after appropriation of funds by the commission.

7. In 2005, the Mayor had other elected officials in fee offices (Trustee and County Court Clerk) pay for two employees who did not work for the Trustee or County Court Clerk but who, instead, worked in the Mayor’s Finance Department during almost all of FY 2005. When the county auditors were informed about this, the Mayor brought a last-minute year-end amendment to commission to switch everything around and avoid an audit finding.

8. In the same way (as in #7 above) the Mayor has had his brother Sheriff Otto Purkey pay for the Mayor’s gas and car maintenance out of the Sheriff’s budget. In addition, the Mayor used the Juvenile Court budget to pay for the car he now drives. Result: Juvenile Court paid for the Mayor’s car while the Sheriff maintains the Mayor’s car and keeps it gassed up. Result: Neither the officials nor county commissioners know the real costs of any office. It’s all just one massive shell game.

9. It appears that false 2001 expenditure figures were provided to the local newspaper during the 2002 election or the local newspaper created its own false facts and figures of county spending for a page one news story. The Mayor has repeatedly refused to provide information about what the correct 2001 audited expenditure totals were.

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