STATE ASKS JACKSON CO. TO TIGHTEN DRUG TAX SPENDING

SYLVA - The Department of State Treasurer asked Jackson County to
take better control over spending money that came from taxing drug dealers.

Responding to an article Sunday in the Citizen-Times, state Fiscal
Management Section Director Sharon Edmundson said in a letter that
two county officials should sign off on checks from the narcotics fund.

Sheriff Jimmy Ashe since 2007 has directed $10,588 to sports
programs, trophies, booster clubs and a high school chorus, according
to documents obtained by the newspaper under state public records law.

The sheriff often spent the money with no oversight. In one case he
directed $3,000 to youth baseball teams - including a team on which
his son played.

The N.C. Department of Justice in a memo to sheriffs said the drug
tax money is intended to help law enforcement "deter and investigate
crimes, especially drug offenses."

Ashe said he directed the spending in response to personal, sometimes
unwritten requests from people in the community. His captain over
investigations signed the checks.

The money came from supplies and equipment accounts within the
Sheriff's Office budget and was later reimbursed through its narcotics fund.

Sheriffs and police get 75 percent of taxes collected from drug
dealers in the cases they investigate.

The county finance office, which is charged with keeping track of
government spending, didn't have oversight in giving to youth sports
teams. The office didn't see the expenditures until after the checks cleared.

Ashe, a Democrat in his second term, said he wanted to keep children
from using drugs by giving them something constructive to do. He
could not be reached Wednesday.

County audits found no wrongdoing.

Edmundson in the letter to County Manager Kenneth Westmoreland said
the county had been allowing one person, who wasn't a duly appointed
finance or deputy finance officer, to sign checks.

"We recommend that the checks used to disburse these funds be signed
by two county employees or officials authorized to sign checks and
duly appointed by the board (of commissioners) to serve in that
capacity," she told Westmoreland.

Westmoreland on Wednesday did not respond to questions from the
Citizen-Times but said he would comment today.

Edmundson also said in the letter that the county should "consider
the payroll implications of the sheriff's personal use of a seized motorcycle."

"Personal use of anything other than a clearly marked public safety
vehicle or the clearly authorized use of an unmarked vehicle is
generally a taxable benefit to an employee," she wrote.

Ashe has said he used a 2003 Harley-Davidson seized in a federal drug
case for official business, including driving to and from work. It
was used in some undercover drug operations and two charity rides, he said.

The sheriff said he used the motorcycle, in part, to evaluate whether
motorcycles would be useful for patrol officers. The mountainous
terrain and cold winters convinced him they would not be.

He parked the bike in his basement during the winter. The county
later sold the motorcycle.

Heather Franco, a spokeswoman for the treasurer's office, said it's
not unusual for the state to send a letter to a county about internal
financial controls.

She said the N.C. Local Government Commission would reject the
county's next audit if it doesn't make the changes. That would make
it hard for the county to borrow money.

The county must respond to the state in writing, according to the letter.

"At this time, it is fully expected that Jackson County will amend
their procedures and comply with the statutes," she said.