Protecting taxpayers and preventing local government corruption

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Protecting the taxpayers and checks and balances.

Those were some of the talking points State Auditor Shad White provided WCBI during his last visit to the studio.

People in elected positions or any position in government where they handle money are bonded.

That essentially means there is an insurance policy that protects taxpayers if an elected official behaves unethically or does something illegal.

For example, the bond will pay the taxpayers if a government official steals money and the bond company will request the money back from that government official.

White says implementing prevention methods can mitigate the opportunity for taxpayer money to be stolen.

“Don’t put one person in charge of everything with nobody else looking over their shoulder. Don’t let one person control your entire spending process land look up and see we’ll that person hasn’t taken a vacation in two years and the reason is they want to keep all that information to themselves. They want to keep control to themselves and they put themselves in a position where they can easily steal money,” said White.

Local governments are encouraged to reach out to State Auditor Shad White’s office for help with internal control and prevention.