Councilman Marty Turner says he’s repaid the city of Columbus approximately $1,200 in travel expenses after the city council took the matter up in executive session Tuesday.
Turner told The Dispatch the council voted in favor of ordering him to repay the money. Turner said he voted in favor of the measure. Councilmen reportedly told Turner to pay the owed expenses or the matter would be handed over to State Auditor Stacy Pickering.
Turner, who represents Ward 4 on the council, said he paid the city back Wednesday morning.
City officials declined to discuss the matter’s specifics. However, Milton Rawle, the city’s chief financial officer, confirmed Turner had paid the city back.
The city gives elected officials and other employees money for hotels, meals, mileage and other job-related expenses when they travel on official business. Elected officials and city employees are supposed to turn in receipts to match money spent after returning.
Turner said the expenses he paid back came from several months’ worth of traveling to conferences, such as the Mississippi Municipal League.
Turner said he originally turned in copies of his bank statements to reflect his expenses on the trips. Mayor Robert Smith, he said, denied accepting bank statements because he wanted itemized expenses on city records.
“I thought that my bank statement would reflect my receipts,” Turner said. “The receipts either got lost or thrown away.
“I just assumed that he would take that because the receipts I did turn in reflect perfectly — exactly — on what was on my bank statements,” Turner said. “They didn’t want to accept that.”
Turner admitted that he was at fault for losing the receipts
“It was an oversight on my behalf because I didn’t think it was a big deal,” he said. “I’m a sworn officer and I would never take advantage of the taxpayers’ money.”
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