The city of Augusta was hit with a $4 million dollar fine from the Internal Revenue Service starting back in March and the case remains unresolved. After it is all over with, the city may end up owing the IRS over $10 million, maybe up to $15 million, plus interest and attorney fees.
Outside attorneys have been contracted to appeal the fines and the city has reached out to Congressman Rick Allen (R-Ga) for help with the matter.
According to Mayor Garnett Johnson, there has been no word on the progress on the case.
“The commission and I have not received any updates so far,” Johnson said.
The IRS contends that the city failed to file, in 2018, the proper forms as specified by the Affordable Care Act. The city has already received a $2 million-plus interest bill for 2017 and officials fear more charges are forthcoming since the required forms were apparently not filed for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The fines levied caused employees of the Human Resources Department and Finance Department to point fingers across the hall at each other; however, no one in the government has been disciplined or fired over the matter, according to sources in the government that wish not to be named.
At the executive session held on March 28, commissioners discussed behind closed doors whether to fire Rookard or Finance Director Donna Williams, but no action was taken.
A former Human Resources Department manager sent Director Anita Rookard a lengthy email describing the filing process and claimed that it actually takes three departments to file the IRS documents in question.
Somewhere along the way, a breakdown in communication caused the proper document not to be filed by the deadlines.
The issue ultimately gave District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight the six votes she needed to begin an outside audit of city departments. McKnight and former commissioner John Clarke had been asking for an audit for three years.
According to McKnight, the process has started and the audits, starting with the Mayor’s Office from the previous Davis administration, should begin by late summer.
“It is now in the bid process with the Procurement Department,” McKnight said.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
