The Yazoo City Housing Authority has canceled its credit card and will now handle many of its expenses through paper checks, following a request by The Yazoo Herald for its credit card records.
The Yazoo Herald requested detailed credit card statements for August 2017 through August 2018. The records for the American Express card used by the former Housing Authority Director Betty Reed were provided to The Herald this week.
The Housing Authority’s credit card usage was one of the reasons cited by some members of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s recent action to remove three Housing Authority Board members. They raised questions about the credit card being used to purchase airline tickets for individuals who were not employed or associated with the Housing Authority.
In an effort to eliminate future problems, new Housing Authority Director Alpresteon Billings said a new process is now in place.
“The card has actually been canceled,” Billings said, this week during the open meeting of the Housing Authority Board. “We are going back to the old ways.”
Billings said conference registrations and lodging will be handled through paper checks. When airline flights are necessary, individuals must purchase their own tickets which will be reimbursed via a receipt.
According to records, some Housing Authority Board members would upgrade their seats during flights, charging it to the Housing Authority. First-class upgrades were noted several times in the past year on the American Express card. Billings said future seat upgrades will come at the individual’s expense, adding that the Housing Authority will no longer foot the bill.
The Yazoo Herald has requested more information about some of the charges on the American Express card, which Billings said were made under the direction of former director Reed.
The Yazoo Herald noted several charges this newspaper felt needed an explanation, including:
• An online Michael Kors (fashion designer) was purchased in June 2018 for $223.
• There was a purchase at a Sears & Roebuck in Nashville for $112 in the May 2018 statement.
• There was a total of $2,510 in charges to Academy Sports in the Nov. 2017 statement.
• About $500 was charged to Kirklands, a home décor/retail shop, in the Nov. 2017 statement.
• A meal at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Madison was $560 in Nov. 2017 statement.
• A meal at Ribeyes Steakhouse was $1,755 in the Dec. 2017 statement.
• Around $675 was spent at the Wal Mart in Madison in the Dec. 2017 statement.
• Around $280 was charged for an online Amazon purchase.
• And $770 was charged for a Best Buy purchase in the Jan. 2018 statement.
The Yazoo Herald also discovered close to $40,000 associated with travel for various conferences and training sessions around the country. But The Herald also noted that several family members of Housing Authority staff and commissioners also accompanied them on conference trips. Airline tickets were purchased for those family members on the Housing Authority credit card.
Some commissioners have admitted that they took family members with them on certain conference trips. But they said they reimbursed the Housing Authority with payment for that family members’ airline ticket expense.
The Yazoo Herald contacted new director Billings with each of the items this newspaper noted for an explanation or to see if any reimbursements were on file. However, Billings said she could not provide that information by press time. But she said she would work diligently to get the information to The Herald as quickly as possible.
