Richland lawmaker challenges accountants who asked council not to disclose audit
State Rep. Kirkman Finlay is upset about the lack of information from an audit into Richland County’s penny tax roads program. So he’s going after the accounting firm that conducted the audit.
The Richland County lawmaker has filed a complaint against accountants Cherry Bekaert with the state agency that oversees business licensing and regulation, a complaint that could see the firm sanctioned or even have its business license to operate in the state revoked, Finlay said.
Finlay is angry because after it conducted an audit of the county’s penny tax roads program, the firm required members of Richland County Council to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they could view the results.
When The State asked several council members about the results from the audit, they declined to discuss it, citing the still intact non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.
“I hope this gets those documents released sooner rather than later,” Finlay told The State. “If they refuse to release them, they can lose their license. That’s one of the sanctions.”
Last month, Councilman Joe Walker sent a letter to the accountants asking them to release all the results to the public, at the threat of facing a lawsuit from county residents.
“I appreciate any support the legislative delegation can provide in pursuing accountability at the county level,” Walker said.
Earlier this month, the council asked the Program Development Team, the private group that manages the $1 billion road improvement program, to release any orders changing the scope of penny tax road projects, what the expenditures were and who approved those changes. Those documents coming from the firm would be covered by the NDA.
The audit identified “significant deficiencies” in how the joint venture managed the billion-dollar road program, according to a portion of the report publicly presented by Cherry Bekaert accountants at a meeting of Richland County Council in May.
The council voted to end its relationship with the privately-run PDT in March, believing it could save up to $4 million by bringing operations in-house. Richland County’s contract with the PDT ends in November.
A call to Cherry Bekaert Thursday afternoon was not returned prior to publication.
Finlay believes the report will help identify problems with the program that will be relevant to the public.
“What’s the point (of the audit) if it’s not made public?” Finlay said. “What’s the point if the firm won’t release it if they’re not indemnified? Indemnified for what?”
Since a one-cent sales tax was approved by voters in a 2012 referendum, the roads program has been dogged by rising costs. In May, projected spending on multiple projects exceeded the amount set by the referendum by some $154 million. Last month, the county’s transportation committee froze work on $150 million worth of penny-tax projects.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
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