Letter: Register of Deeds audit shows surplus, refutes opponents’ claims

Note: This is a copy of a press release submitted by Anderson County Register of Deeds Tim Shelton. Shelton and his challenger, Bill Gallaher, have had a back-and-forth debate about office finances. You can see Gallaher’s press release here.

The Anderson County Register of Deeds office has concluded an internal audit of all revenues and expenditures dating back to 2002, the year that current Register of Deeds Tim Shelton first took office. The results appear to refute the claims made by opposition candidate Bill Gallaher that the office is operating in the red. According to the audit results, the Register of Deeds office has generated a surplus of $546,286 over the past 12 years, with revenues coming in at $3,661,700 and expenditures totaling $3,115,700 for the same time period.

“I felt it important to provide this information to the public so that the confidence which our citizens have in the register of deeds office could be validated,”” stated Shelton. “”We went receipt by receipt, totaling every revenue and expenditure since I took office, double and triple checking to ensure that nothing was missed.””

The controversy of fees began a few weeks ago when a mail piece was sent out by Bill Gallaher, who is opposing current Register of Deeds Tim Shelton in the August 7 general election. Shelton disputed the accusations during two recent joint appearances by both men, one on radio and the other at a public forum in Oak Ridge.

Shelton stated he was actually surprised by the mail piece when he first was made aware of it.

“When the mailout was first brought to my attention, I honestly thought someone was just playing a joke,” Shelton said. “But when I saw it for myself, I felt I had a responsibility to set the record straight. I have managed this office with the utmost of integrity and to have it questioned demanded that I respond by conducting an audit of the office’s revenues and expenditures.””

The audit results included receipts from both the Register of Deeds office and the Accounts and Budget office of Anderson County. These records are subject to the Public Records Act of Tennessee and can be obtained by making a public records request through either office.

Shelton concluded his remarks by addressing his opponent’s most recent ad and mail piece.

““Fuzzy math is usually fuzzy for a reason,” Shelton said. “In this case, the fuzzy math my opponent is using is intended to serve as a smear tactic with the hopes of negatively misleading voters. Hopefully, this most recent audit report will clarify the truth for Anderson County voters.””