A reader called the other day lamenting Blytheville's IRS problem, specifically wondering how a state auditor could say the payroll taxes were not misappropriated -- using payroll taxes for something other than payroll taxes seemed to fit that term in her mind.
In February, deputy legislative auditor June Barron said she didn't believe the city of Blytheville's $2,344,004 unremitted payroll taxes were stolen, but instead supplemented various city services.
Barron said there was "no indication that any of this money was stolen, misappropriated, misused in any way."
She said the city basically used the tax money to pay other bills.
"There was no indication in any of our audit procedures that any of the tax money was stolen or used for someone else's personal gain," Barron said. "It was simply used to provide other city services."
As the FBI and Arkansas State Police's joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding the city of Blytheville's multimillion payroll withholding tax debacle remains seemingly forever ongoing, the reader brings up an interesting point deserving of consideration.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "misappropriating" as "to appropriate wrongly (as by theft or embezzlement)," while it defines "misuse" as "to use incorrectly."
While all indications are the money was not stolen, it seems obvious that it was used incorrectly -- as in deductions from paychecks were applied to city bills rather than sent to the Internal Revenue Service.
Given the information that has been made public, odds are that former Blytheville Mayor Barrett Harrison or former finance director Faye Griggs will not face criminal charges, though it would be nice if the FBI and State Police would pick up the pace and say one way or another.
Really, the delay isn't fair to Harrison and Griggs if there is no criminal wrongdoing, or to the taxpayers, if there is indeed charges brought forth.
I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of law enforcement and how investigators probe such matters. However, from a layman's perspective, six months seems like enough time to come up with another answer than "it's ongoing."
At the very least, even if the matter never sees a courtroom, taxpayers deserve to know who knew what and when as well as specifics of what happened to the payroll tax money. One would presume their reports will have that information once the investigation concludes.
In the meantime, even after leaving the multimillion dollar payroll tax debt, Harrison has begun collecting his retirement benefits from the city.
Chances were slim to none that he would turn down the early retirement checks.
Of course, had the 2008 City Council not passed Ordinance 1678, the 55-year-old Harrison would have had to wait an additional five years to begin collecting his retirement benefits.
The ordinance, passed Sept. 16, 2008, lowered the Blytheville mayoral retirement age from 60 to 55 and, essentially, cost taxpayers an additional $175,618.95, maybe more.
Because he was in office for 10 years or more, Harrison is due to collect at least $35,123.79 a year for the rest of his life; then, if he has a wife of 10 years or more, she will collect half of that following his death.
He was in office for 12 years before opting not to seek re-election because he had a lucrative job in waiting -- as president of the Blytheville-Gosnell Regional Airport Authority, where he now earns roughly $80,000 a year.
The former mayor and former finance director have suffered some consequences, I suppose -- months of being verbally tarred and feathered.
Harrison could have been remembered for the world-class Blytheville Youth Sportsplex and Thunder Bayou Golf Links built during his tenure, but instead his legacy has been stained by the payroll tax debacle.
Likely, only an FBI/ASP report in his favor could change public opinion at this point.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com