SOUTHAVEN, MS (abc24.com) - They're digging deeper and deeper into the money mess in Southaven.
Mississippi auditors are sharpening their pencils in the ongoing investigation of Mayor Greg Davis' spending habits.
Davis was already ordered to repay $150,000 tax payer dollars. Now auditors are looking at thousands more of the city's money, what they're calling a second civil investigation into the mayor's misspending.
"I don't know that the total amount will be as much as the first one, but I anticipate it will be a sizeable demand," says Mississippi State Auditor spokesperson Lisa Shoemaker. "I don't think we'll be dealing with a ten thousand dollar number."
As soon as the first $150,000 plus penalties demand was issued against the mayor in November, the state went looking for additional funny money.
Shoemaker referenced "the travel reimbursement he received, the political contributions he made, and the additional money paid by the city to do that second job dealing with the water."
As that list has grown, so has the money Davis owes.
He's paid part of it, but the auditor's office is still waiting for Davis to repay $62,000. When they add these new items to his total, Shoemaker says the number goes up.
"I think he's still going to be over $100,000 for sure," she says.
This second investigation isn't the only thing new right now. The auditor's office also told Southaven aldermen to look at every credit card Davis uses.
"There's personal credit cards and there's city credit cards," explained alderman Ronnie Hale. "They concentrated on the personal first, now they're just coming back and looking at the details on the city credit cards… Around 130 [thousand] is what we're being told."
$130,000. Aldermen say they should be able to account for most of the charges on the city credit cards, but Davis will still owe a big chunk of change.
However the state can't force Davis to pay up, and no additional interest will be charged whether he pays next week or next year.
"We don't have anything to push him to make this payment," says Shoemaker. "There's not really any teeth in the law in Mississippi that gives them some kind of penalty if and when they don't pay that money back."
Try telling that to Southaven residents.
"They make us pay all our bills that we owe," says Dorothy Johnson.
"Every week there's something new," says Renee Wright. "Where was the check and balance on what he was doing?"
"That's one of those legislative issues we've tried to deal with here with the legislature in Mississippi," Shoemaker says. "To get some type of law passed that gives them an incentive to go ahead and pay their money back."
