Panel Questions Legality of Buying Coffee, Water

Thousands of taxpayer dollars for years have paid to keep Washington County employees and office visitors awake and hydrated with coffee and water, but some justices of the peace worry buying those drinks could be against the law.

By the Number

County Coffee

Washington County has budgets money annually for coffee, water and food for employees and visitors. Shown below are the 2011 expenditures, this year’s budget and the 2013 requests.

2011 2012 2013

County Clerk $395 $1,200 $1,200

Circuit Clerk $638 $2,000 $1,000

Sheriff $4,645 $6,000 $7,500

Assessor $1,944 $2,160 $1,500

Tax Collector $785 $2,600 $2,600

Treasurer $0 $0 $0

Coroner $0 $40 $0

County Judge $3,236 $7,095 $5,900

Quorum Court $261 $900 $900

Total $11,907 $21,995 $20,600

Source: Staff Report

The issue surfaced this year because of the Quorum Court’s line-by-line item review of 2013 budget requests, an effort not done by justices of the peace in many years. The Budget Committee of the Whole begins Thursday to match spending requests with revenue projections from Treasurer Roger Haney.

Quorum Court members learned about the spending for libations after the state Division of Legislative Audit changed the coding classification of budget line items, Haney said.

Coffee and water, for instance, was budgeted under a “miscellaneous” category and is now under “food.” The reclassifications hadn’t occurred since 1982, Haney said.

The money spent on coffee and water is a tiny portion of the overall 2013 spending requests submitted by department heads, said Justice of the Peace Tom Lundstrum.

The budget requests from eight elected officials and the Quorum Court show $20,600 requested for coffee and water. They budgeted $21,995 for this year, and spent $11,907 in 2011.

State Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, sent a request to the state Attorney General’s Office for an opinion on the matter last week, her daughter Justice of the Peace Eva Madison said.

Eva Madison said she believes just because something, such a cup of coffee, is given to the public, it doesn’t make its purchase a public purpose.

“I'm not looking to take away anybody's pleasantries. My main goal is to make sure it's consistant with state law,” Eva Madison said.

County attorney George Butler told Quorum Court members in a memo state attorney general opinions are mixed regarding the use of public money for private purposes. The attorney general hasn’t issued an opinion about coffee, he wrote.

A Boston Mountain Solid Waste District employee was fired recently partly because he spent district money to pay for food for employees, visitors and other people, Eva Madison said.

Budget committee members questioned Circuit Clerk Bette Stamps about the food line item Oct. 9. Stamps requested $3,000 but later dropped it to $1,000. This year, she budgeted $2,000 for coffee and water and she spent $639 in 2011.

Stamps said Monday she contracts a company to supply coffee and water, which is offered to employees and visitors. Stamps said she doesn’t think removing coffee and water would negatively impact productivity in her office.

“Surely, it won't make that big of a deal,” she said.

The Sheriff’s Office plans to spend about half its $7,500 request to pay for monthly meals with local, state and federal law enforcement officials, said Jay Cantrell, chief deputy.

For years, the Sheriff’s Office has invited a variety of law enforcement agencies from small town police chiefs to local Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI agents to discuss the latest crime and investigation trends, Cantrell said. Before the meals began, Butler determined the events served a public purpose, Cantrell said.

Haney and Coroner Roger Morris didn’t ask for any money in 2013 for coffee and water. Haney said he’s used his own money to buy water for his office staff and another employee pays for the coffee.

County Judge Marilyn Edwards has more than a dozen funds for departments such as human resources, information technology and environmental affairs. According to the comptroller’s office, two of her departments, the Juvenile Detention Center and the Department of Emergency management use the money to buy food for emergencies and juvenile inmates.

Of the the remaining departments under Edwards’ supervision, staff members requested $5,900 for 2013. They budgeted $7,095 this year and spent $3,236 in 2011.

“It’s not as big issue with me as it appears to be with Eva,” Lundstrum said. “But on the other hand she’s questioned the legality of it, and I’m not familiar enough with state law.”

Lundstrum and Justice of the Peace Candy Clark, budget committee chairwoman, said they want to make sure the Quorum Court authorizes legal expenditures.

An Alabama attorney general opined in 2002 public funds couldn’t be used for cake and coffee at monthly city meetings, but an Ohio attorney general wrote coffee and refreshments could be purchased for employees as fringe benefits, Butler wrote.

“I don't care,” Clark said. “I want to know what our attorney general says about it. It's a much larger issue than it appears. It touches every department one way or the other.

Meeting

Budget Committee of the Whole

When: 5:30 p.m. today

Where: Washington County Courthouse, 280 N. College Ave.

It touches the Quorum Court, which has coffee and soft drinks available for members during meetings.

The Budget Committee tonight will hear Haney’s final revenue projection for 2013. The Quorum Court this year set a goal to balance the budget without using reserve money.

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