Tennessee wasted almost half a billion dollars, according to a new government watchdog report.
The Beacon Center released it’s annual “Pork Report” which highlights wasteful spending by state and local leaders.
The good news is there was a decline of waste, fraud and abuse at the state and local level by just over a third. The bad news, is hundreds of millions of dollars worth of taxpayer money is being spent on what the Beacon Center calls pork.
At the BBQ Shop, there is plenty of pork on the menu, but it’s government pork the Local I-Team asked customers about.
“Well, I think we have a lot of it,” said Memphis taxpayer Dean Tutor.
“You can’t argue with the numbers, but you can argue what’s important and priorities,” said Memphis taxpayer Tiffany Johnson.
This year’s Pork Report tallies up $480 million of wasteful spending.
From $30 million spent on state funded golf courses to spending $14 million on TV and film incentives and $90 million spent on Pre K programs that the Beacon Center says studies show has no lasting benefits for students.
In West Tennessee the report highlights a former school official in Crockett County. A state audit found the former director of technology took lavish gifts such a $7,000 Rolex watch, Waterford crystal and flat screen television in exchange for approving two contracts.
About 100 miles northeast of Memphis in Gibson County, the TBI concluded the county’s previous sheriff pilfered nearly $270,000 dollars from local taxpayers. The majority of it came from falsified payroll records. The former sheriff and 11 others were recently indicted.
“Gibson County is actually not alone in that sort of thing. We saw various counties across the state where local officials have been indicted for stealing funds or charging things locally or to the state,” said Lindsay Boyd of the Beacon Center.
In Memphis and Shelby County, the report takes aim at the $300,000 dollars a year the state gives to the National Civil Rights Museum, saying if visitors paid just a $1.50 more a ticket, the need for a state handout would be eliminated.
It also questions the decision by Memphis City Council to add some pork of its own, literally. Increasing the amount spent on catered lunches for meeting days to $8,000 a year and increasing their travel budget 300%.
Then there is the Shelby County Commission. The report questions the $1.3 million in handouts the commission gave to non-profits.
“Each county commissioner wants to be re-elected, so they are doing something that looks positive for them,” said Tutor.
“I know some good projects in local districts that could be considered pet projects but were beneficial for those districts,” said Johnson.
So when it comes to pork and the Pork Report this year, it appears the State of Tennessee went on a diet and lost a little. The question is what happens next year? Stay lean or will there once again be a pork out?
You can read the full 2016 Tennessee Pork Report HERE.
