Latest news with #TroutmanPepper
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legal fees in city audit by Troutman Sanders cost Columbus taxpayers more than $450,000
COLUMBUS, GA. () — The Columbus city government has spent a lot of tax money to investigate claims of illegal activity and misconduct in the city's Finance Department. The legal fees paid to an Atlanta law firm to investigate the city's Finance Department cost taxpayers more than $450,000, according to information obtained by WRBL through Georgia's Open Records Act. The city has paid the money to Troutman Pepper since 2023. That is strictly funds for legal fees alone and not the cost of a forensic audit that accompanied the Troutman Pepper investigation, according to City Attorney Clifton Fay. It started in August 2023 when City Councilor JoAnne Cogle made a surprise motion at the end of a council meeting. The motion by the District 7 representative was specific, asking for a particular law firm. 'I would like to make a motion that we hire Troutman and Pepper to work alongside our internal auditor in a previously approved audit with the intention and goal of providing a detailed report of some of the concerns that have surfaced,' Cogle read. Hiring Troutman Pepper came on the heels of an internal city audit of the Finance Department. That audit suggested, without evidence, that 45 million dollars was missing from city coffers. That is a claim that has been repeated as recently as this week when Mayor Skip Henderson had to correct a citizen who regurgitated it at a public hearing Tuesday night. Troutman Pepper's detailed report found serious operational and organizational issues inside the Finance Department, but nothing rose to a criminal level.. Troutman Pepper partner Charles Peeler said when his work concluded, 'There is no evidence to support the claim that there is $45.1 million of revenue missing.' That wasn't the only investigation. The Muscogee County Sheriff's Office recently concluded a 16-month investigation that resulted in two misdemeanor arrests. Finance Director Angelica Alexander was charged with obstruction. Former Revenue Manager Yvonne Ivey was charged with two counts of simple battery. None of the charges were connnected to alleged financial misconduct. But according to one councilor, the investigations created a deeper divide between the mayor, city manager, and some city councilors. 'We brought in Troutman Pepper and Charlie Peeler to kind of protect the auditor,' District 5 Councilor Charmanine Crabb told WRBL in a May 20 interview. 'They weren't cooperating with her. They were kind of attacking her. And he was supposed to be working for council. And all of a sudden, this investigation comes into play, and he's working for Isaiah and the mayor.' In that Muscogee County Sheriff's Office investigation that Crabb referenced in an interview with WRBL last month, she called Peeler 'disloyal, lacking honor, integrity, and respect.' Peeler is a former U.S. attorney. The Troutman Pepper investigation cost taxpayers $456,221.40. Councilor Glenn Davis and Crabb contend that part of that money paid for investigative work requested by Mayor Skip Henderson and the city manager. The investigations into the Finance Department were one of the reasons given last week when the city council voted 7-3 to terminate City Manager Isaiah Hugley just seven months short of his retirement. Crabb made that motion to fire Hugley and pay him through the end of December. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How we got here: Ledger-Enquirer's reporting on the Columbus finance investigation
Stories by Columbus Ledger-Enquirer journalists, with AI summarization A Columbus finance investigation revealed deep conflicts over how much revenue the city failed to collect. Initial audits cited a shortfall as high as $45 million, while city leaders maintained it was closer to $2.5 million. Reports found the occupational tax office overwhelmed by stacks of unprocessed checks, backlogged license applications, and shifting estimates from both the internal auditor and outside firms such as Troutman Pepper. Recent updates showed the city had improved collection processes, but concerns and a criminal investigation remain unfinished, with charges filed against some staff and ongoing questions about possible cover-ups. Amid continued distrust, options like outsourcing the business license department and expanding automation are under consideration to prevent similar problems in the future. Councilors said the city business license office has fallen behind in collecting license fees by failing to send out renewal notices, so some businesses have not renewed licenses for years. | Published October 30, 2023 | Read Full Story by Tim Chitwood An auditor says Columbus is $45.1 million behind on collecting business license taxes. The finance director says it's only $2.5 million. | Published December 5, 2023 | Read Full Story by Tim Chitwood One councilor said the city by law cannot collect on delinquent business license accounts if the debt's more than four years old. 'It's gone. You can't get that money back,' he said. | Published January 24, 2024 | Read Full Story by Tim Chitwood The mayor says probe is about a private citizen erroneously getting personal information on a business the city manager owned. But some city workers fear it's about outing whistleblowers. | Published January 26, 2024 | Read Full Story by Tim Chitwood The letter obtained by the Ledger-Enquirer doesn't list the names of the CCG employees but identifies three of the employees by title. | Published August 16, 2024 | Read Full Story by Kelby Hutchison An attorney representing Reather Hollowell, the Columbus Consolidated Government's human resources director, released a statement Wednesday saying she has no involvement in the possible wrongdoing. | Published August 21, 2024 | Read Full Story by Kelby Hutchison Columbus Council still has concerns about the finance department after going through a follow-up report on the revenue division. | Published November 26, 2024 | Read Full Story by Brittany McGee District Attorney of the Towaliga Judicial Circuit Jonathan Adams provides an update to the criminal investigation into the Columbus Finance Department. | Published February 12, 2025 | Read Full Story by Brittany McGee An investigative document provided to the Ledger-Enquirer shows additional charges have been recommended for four city employees. | Published May 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Brittany McGee Kelby Hutchison The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
