The former manager of the Carroll County Airport near Berryville spent $16,083 of county money on personal items during 2012 and 2013, according to a state audit released last month.
The "improper disbursements" included $6,944 at grocery stores, $748 for women's clothing and jewelry, $144 for pet food and supplies, $135 on prescription drugs, $108 for "cosmetics and tanning items" and $40 on golfing supplies, the audit said.
Under the category of furniture and decor, $566 was spent on a recliner, rocking chair, "Ninja cooker and blender," Dutch oven and deep fryer.
"None of these disbursements had a documented business purpose," according to a letter from June M. Barron, deputy legislative auditor, to the Carroll County Quorum Court and Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. The items, totalling $16,083, "appear to be personal in nature," she wrote.
Sheila Evans was airport manager in 2012 and 2013. She retired at the end of 2013.
Evans wasn't reached for comment Thursday. County Judge Sam Barr and Morris Pate, chairman of the Airport Commission, both said they didn't know where Evans was or how to reach her.
Evans was custodian of the airport's credit cards, according to the audit.
The improper disbursements included $14,965 on credit cards and $1,118 in checks. The Airport Fund ended 2013 with a negative balance of $12,814.
Tony Rogers, Carroll County prosecutor, said he requested an Arkansas State Police investigation into the matter last spring, when he received a letter from state auditors. Rogers said the investigation should be completed soon.
No charges have been filed at this point, he said.
Evans' salary was $27,876 in 2013, according to the Carroll County clerk's office.
After Evans' departure, the airport was without a manager until Wednesday, when Michael Pfeifer of Berryville took over that job.
"I've been flying since 1988," said Pfeifer, who is originally from Little Rock. "I built my own experimental [airplane], and I'm flying it out here. I'm a regular hangar rat."
Pate said most of the airport's money comes from the county, which provides $6,900 a month for operations. The airport also generates revenue through hangar leases, fuel sales and vehicle use, in addition to receiving donations and benefiting from in-kind agreements.
Pate has been on the commission since September 2014. He's a former Eureka Springs mayor.
Barr said he and members of the Quorum Court had trouble getting financial information from Evans when she was airport manager.
"They didn't want to tell you anything," he said.
Barr said Evans would cite attorney general opinion No. 2009-024, which stated the county judge can't dictate to a county airport commission how the commission will expend budgeted revenue.
The county owns the airport, which was built in 1964, and the county judge is custodian of the airport property. But the commission has "unlimited authority" to operate the airport under Arkansas Code Annotated 14-357-105.
The airport's single runway is 3,554 feet long and 75 feet wide. The airport has 28 hangars, with 25 airplanes currently based there, Pfeifer said.
In 2010, a new, 22,000-square-foot terminal was constructed at a cost of $330,000. Sales taxes on airplanes and fuel paid for the construction. The terminal building is unique because it looks like half an airplane from the air.
NW News on 09/04/2015