Cobb auditing water system revenue

SMYRNA – Cobb County commissioners said Thursday they are launching an investigation into the “funding and management” of the county’s water system revenue.

“We need to look closely at several areas where revenue has been directed from water system to support the general fund, to pay for solid waste operations and storm water management expenses,” Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said in a news release. “Our goal is to identify any procedural or policy issues and to put in place controls to assure future compliance.”

County officials identified three specific areas of concern: both the loaning and transfer of water system revenues and using system money to fund of storm water management. Between 1998 and 2003, for example, $27 million in water system revenues went to support the operations of the county’s solid waste department.

“It is important to gather all the facts in this inquiry so that we can fully understand the scope of the issues,” County Manager David Hankerson said in a news release. “Many of these actions were started by practices established in the mid -1990s and tracking back each piece will take some time.”