Audit disputes Johnson's request for more money

TAMPA -- County auditors say they can't justify giving departing Hillsborough elections supervisor Buddy Johnson a $2.3-million bailout after analyzing his accounting records.

They are recommending that county commissioners give him only a fraction of the amount, or $336,000, to cover his drastically blown overtime budget for holding the November election. Johnson had estimated that he would need $32,120 to cover overtime expenses, but he spent 10 times that amount.

A central part of the two-page report focuses on the state-mandated acquisition of new voting machines. In February, county commissioners approved giving Johnson's office $5.8-million to buy new optical scan voting system last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

The contract with Premier Election Solutions says that Johnson's office would pay the company the final 30 percent of the cost, or about $1.7-million, during this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. But the report indicates that some portion of that balance was spent last year on other, undetermined office expenses.

The report speculates that part of the money Johnson recently requested may be to cover some part of the $1.7-million due to Premier that commissioners already gave him.

Johnson has since withdrawn his request, leaving the dispute to successor Phyllis Busansky to settle. Busansky, a former commissioner, defeated Johnson in the November election. Johnson left office today.

Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer

Download a PDF of the audit.

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Comments

[Dr_Dug]

Bye bye Budddy Boy.........

[Sybil]

How about we make back some of that $$ - no last paycheck for Bubba Johnson, and hey, let's just take it out of his pension.

W T F was this dude doing in that office? oh yeah, that's right, he was hiding out on that farm with the three cows. Or was it one?

[Anastacia]

Johnson is either a criminal or completely stupid. How about it Buddy: which one are you?

After 6 months of him dismissing any citizen/voter questioning his expenditures in public forums and alas we learn the truth. It only makes the level of arrogance that he perpetuated during the campaign that much more bitter.

Let us not forget two critical things: he was a Jeb appointee and he is a Republican.

Johnson must own up to this failure.

you pinheads put him there in the first place

NO, Jeb Bush put him there originally. Glad Buddy is going and this is just another reason not to ever vote for Jeb for ANYTHING ever again!!!