Audit reveals technical school vehicle issues

LITTLE ROCK — The Northwest Technical Institute has assigned a vehicle to its president that can be used for commuting between his home and office, but the school hasn’t received reimbursement for the miles driven between home and work, a deputy legislative auditor told lawmakers Thursday.

Arkansas state law and state Department of Finance and Administration regulations require reimbursement to the state for all commuting and other personal use of state-owned vehicles at a rate of 42 cents a mile, Deputy Legislative Auditor Tom Bullington said in a report on an audit of the institute for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020.

In addition, finance department and Internal Revenue Service regulations require the value of commuting and other personal mileage be reported as taxable fringe benefits to the employee using the vehicle, he told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee’s Standing Committee on State Agencies. Finance department regulations also require usage logs for every mile driven in state-owned vehicles.

Legislative auditors found that the Northwest Technical Institute did not record or report the commuting taxable benefit nor maintain usage logs for or receive reimbursement for the miles driven between home and work, he said.

Northwest Technical Institute is part of the state Department of Education under Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s 2019 executive-branch reorganization of state government.

Afterward, Department of Education Chief of Staff Gina Windle said in a written statement, “Once NWTI was brought under ADE, audit discovered the issue.

“It’s been addressed and is corrected,” she said.

Windle said legislative auditors found this issue with Northwest Technical Institute President Jim Rollins, “but it was a erroneous continuation of policy that predated his start date.” On July 1, 2020, Rollins succeeded Blake Robertson as president of the institute. Robertson retired after six years in the post. Rollins is a former superintendent of the Springdale Public Schools.

She said no one has calculated roughly what should have been paid in taxes.

Rollins’ salary is $147,199.94 in the current fiscal year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.

The institute in Springdale is a state-supported school featuring several programs for high school students and adults, including welding, industrial maintenance, diesel technology, nursing and information technology.