Davis said the $53,000 represents money spent at local restaurants over the past 2 1/2 years on city business. It is part of more than $170,000, including penalties and interest, that Davis was ordered to repay after a seven-month investigation into his expenses.

“I have come up with $53,000 in receipts and turned them over to the auditor’s office for review,” Davis said. “We are still working to find more receipts.”

The auditor’s office confirmed Monday that investigators have received the receipts, which Davis mailed before Thanksgiving.

“We have received them, but I can’t comment any further other than to say investigators are reviewing them and they will communicate with the mayor if the receipts are acceptable,” said Lisa Shoemaker, a spokeswoman for the Auditor’s Office.

Shoemaker said Auditor Stacey Pickering will issue a statement Friday about the repayment demand against Davis. The demand was issued Nov. 2.

The investigation leading to the order revealed charges that included family counseling, clothing purchases and personal meals and entertainment, all charged to a city-issued credit card or to Davis’s personal card for reimbursement by the city.

Altogether, the auditors cited $170,782.28 worth of unsubstantiated expenses, including fees and interest, for which they said Davis must produce receipts to prove it was city business. If not, they gave the mayor 30 days, which will be up Friday, to repay the city.

If the $53,000 worth of receipts submitted by Davis are accepted by auditors, it will reduce the amount he must repay to $117,782.28.

“If the funds are not recovered, a civil lawsuit could be filed,” Shoemaker said. “Criminal charges could also be pursued by local and federal authorities.”

– Yolanda Jones: (901) 333-2014

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) -

Over the last ten years, cell phone use in Mississippi by state agencies has increased as expected.

“It’s really changed the way we do business, not just in the private sector but in the public sector as well,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering.

Pickering says a few years ago there was not much oversight and a lot of waste of taxpayer money with a multitude of plans and service providers.

“Low minute plans and high minute usage and it was running up the tab,” said Pickering.

To better control costs, the legislature back in 2008 passed a law requiring agencies to implement a system to account for wireless communication devices, but according to the Cell Phone Usage and Accountability Report from 2009, issued by the state auditor’s office, the law has not necessarily achieved what it set out to do.

The Department of Information Technology Services however argues the law has increased accountability in justifying cell phone use.

“Sometimes a cellular service is the best value for the taxpayers,” said Pickering.

In fiscal year 2004, the state had 5,064 cell phones accounted for with a total cost of more than $2.5 million. For fiscal year 2008, the number of phones jumped by 20% to 6,082 with a total cost of more than $3.1 million, which is an increase of 23% from the cost of 2004. If you ask the state auditor, there’s always room for improvement.

“It may be an issue of convenience but is it one of necessity and I think that’s where we’ll see the greatest savings,” said Pickering.

The Department of Public Safety leads all other state agencies with more than 700 cell phones, followed by the Department of Transportation with just under 700. There’s also the issue of duplication of services, asking the question, if you have a landline phone, do you need a cell phone.

“There’s always going to be som6e exceptions, but you’ll be amazed at how many people actually spend the vast majority of their time in their office and they’re assigned a cell phone and they have a landline,” said Pickering.

To save money, Pickering says it all comes down to agencies, regulating themselves through internal controls.

“I hope every agency head goes through that practice every year and it would really help when it comes to cell phone use and realize, you know what, we may be spending money we don’t need to,” said Pickering.

The Cellular Usage and Accountability Reports are put out every few years by the auditor’s office with recommendations to be used as a guide for lawmakers. The next reports will come out in the next year or two.

In addition to giving Samsung Galaxy tablets to students and faculty members, University of Southern Mississippi officials also gave one to Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds.

He “returned it without using it,” according to state College Board spokeswoman Caron Blanton, who said Bounds felt it would best be used by a student.

Now, the office of State Auditor Stacey Pickering is working jointly with the state College Board, which Bounds oversees, to determine whether Southern Miss violated state law in the purchase and distribution of 700 tablets in July and August as part of a pilot program.

State auditor spokeswoman Lisa Shoemaker said that her office is conducting an initial inquiry to determine whether wrongdoing occurred, before it will decide whether to launch a formal investigation.

College Board officials notified the auditor’s office of the possible violations last week, Shoemaker said.

Also reviewing the transaction are Southern Miss officials from the offices of General Counsel and Internal Audit. It was the internal auditor’s office that discovered a potential problem in late October.

“I’m very, very, very saddened by the situation,” President Martha Saunders said Tuesday. “I’m saddened by the fact that I had employees that have been caught up in this.”

So far, three Southern Miss employees have been placed on paid administrative leave, including former provost Bob Lyman who resigned his position abruptly last week to join the faculty ranks.

Also placed on leave are Chief Information Officer Homer Coffman, who heads the school’s iTech division and Mike Herndon, director of Procurement and Contract Services.

Southern Miss paid Blackboard $432,000 to purchase the tablets, in addition to other mobile and design services, according to Southern Miss Chief Communications Officer Jim Coll.

Part of the inquiry concerns a possible failure to follow state bidding law. Mississippi Code Section 31-7-13 mandates public bids for purchases over $50,000 by state agencies.

There is also the question of whether the Blackboard contract violated College Board policy, with the $432,000 contract exceeding the $250,000 threshold requiring board approval, according to the policy handbook.

Blanton said the contract never came before the College Board.

Saunders said she was unaware of the contract, stating that it comes from an area – iTech – that does not cross her desk.

“I was not unaware of the program,” Saunders said. “I assumed that all the details had been handled properly.”

Because the tablets are state property, officials have asked students to bring them in to be inventoried through the end of November.

The students, who were originally told the tablets were theirs to keep, must now return them upon graduation.