Bluff City hires consultant for pre-audit after town manager flags $80,000 budget misattribution

Bluff City’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday authorized a consulting engagement with Blackburn Childers & Stegall PLC to conduct pre-audit work and advise on financial policies after the town manager reported finding a misattributed $80,000 item in the police budget.

Town Manager (Speaker 4) told the board the firm would help “close the books” for the fiscal year ending 06/30/2027, reclassify transactions into correct class lines and streamline grant reimbursement uploads. The manager disclosed the firm’s hourly rates in discussion: $200 per hour for an associate and $400 per hour for a partner as a contingency.

The manager said the pre-audit is intended to avoid the appearance of targeting a former employee and to protect the town and staff by producing a clean accounting record. “It would be closing the books for this year,” the manager said, adding the work will include identifying misattributions and recommending reclassifications.

Board members voiced both support and caution. One board member urged the manager to “keep an eye on the cost situation” and another said, “we don’t want to write a blank check.” The board approved moving forward with the engagement; Speaker 5 made the motion and Speaker 3 seconded. Roll-call ‘Yes’ votes were recorded by multiple board members.

The town manager said staff will provide monthly updates on the firm’s findings and the number of hours worked and will bring any substantive recommendations back to the board. Residents at the meeting urged the board to set an initial spending cap to allow the firm to provide an initial estimate, and the manager agreed to return to the board with more frequent cost reporting.