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The Chickasaw County Board of Supervisors touched on one small part of the recent state audit report Monday, as part of a busy weekly meeting.
The pop machine in the county courthouse was the center of attention, as board members, county auditor Joan Knoll and county attorney Jennifer Schwickerath tried to sort out the recommendations listed in the report as to how to better handle pop money.
The report, issued last week by State Auditor Mary Mosiman, stated that Chickasaw County officials need to better determine and document the public purpose of certain expenditures, and called into question about $1,500 worth of questionable expenditures made by the county, and also recommended that the county establish better procedures for postage and landline phone claims, cell phone policies, review of employee time sheets, proper documentation of vacation payouts, and pop machine receipts.
The audit also found that receipts for pop machine sales were not deposited intact. Collections were reduced by $50 and this amount was used to help cover costs related to the annual employee Christmas party. The report recommended that all receipts be deposited intact.
Through discussion, the board learned that the county owns the pop machine in the courthouse and makes about 15 cents per can. The county stocks the machine with pop bought from Fareway, which is paid for by the county's charge account. The money is regularly removed from the machine and given to the auditor for deposit. All profit from the pop, and from the recycled cans, goes into the general fund.

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The audit took issue with two things about this process. First, the audit recommended the money from the pop machine go to the treasurer, not the auditor. Second, the audit took issue with the county holding back $50 from the general fund to help fund a Christmas party for county employees. The auditors questioned whether an employee Christmas party served a public purpose.