State Auditor Shad White’s office returned over $5.6 million to taxpayers last fiscal year. According to the Audit Exceptions Report for Fiscal Year 2020, released today, the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor more than tripled the amount of money it returned to taxpayers compared to last year.
“This Exceptions Report chronicles a year of hard work by the men and women of the Office of the State Auditor. We continue to build on the strong foundation I was handed when I took this job. The investigators, attorneys, accountants, and staffers of the Office deserve all the credit for this body of work,” said Auditor White.
State law requires the Auditor’s office to publish an Exceptions Report every year. An audit “exception” is a violation of the law or an accounting error resulting in the misspending of public funds. Not all exceptions listed in the report are criminal violations.
All new demands from the last fiscal year and also updates on old, unsettled cases are included in the report.
“In addition to the amount of money we’ve recovered for taxpayers, the subjects of our investigations have been sentenced to hundreds of years of prison time since I came into office. That tough action will prevent future theft of public funds,” added White.
The report – organized by county so taxpayers can easily search for cases near them – can be found online at the Auditor’s website under the “Reports” tab.
Suspected fraud or misappropriation can be reported to the Auditor’s office online any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275.
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Release from the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office.
Magnolia Tribune
