SOUTHAVEN, MS (abc24.com) - Did Southaven Mayor Greg Davis double bill the city and the Chamber of Commerce for reimbursements made to his city credit card? That's the latest controversy in DeSoto County's biggest town.
The mayor's response is no surprise; he says he did nothing wrong, but it's getting harder for those around him to buy that.
The chamber didn't require Davis to submit receipts any more than the city did, but both organizations were giving the mayor money.
"One or two is one thing, but 26 or more is going to be hard to argue," says Southaven Alderman Ronnie Hale.
At issue now are more than two dozen receipts totaling slightly more than $5,000.
Mayor Greg Davis is said to have submitted the same receipts to the city and the chamber for reimbursement. When asked about it, Davis said, "I don't think there's 26 in question. I think there's two and a half years in question, and as we go through, as we've said from the beginning, we'll prove who paid for what."
And the mayor believes he'll come out on top.
In his defense, Davis says the city and chamber paid half of the charges on his credit cards. The other half came from his pocket.
"If there was double billing I think someone would look at it and say why did he pay any out of his personal pocket?" he says. "Try to recall something from two and a half years ago is next to impossible."
Nevertheless, that's exactly what the city clerk is looking into, "To see even if receipts were turned in, were they actually paid," says Hale.
"The bottom line going to show there was no double billing, should I say intentional double billing, because if it was I wouldn't have had to go out of pocket for any money," Davis tells abc24.com.
"He assures me that it's not," adds Hale. "It's kind of hard to argue with what's being presented so far."
The chamber's lawyer calls this revelation a surprise. The last time the mayor received money from the chamber was in September 2010.
All the money in question is taxpayer dollars. The chamber was reimbursing Davis with cash given to it by the city.
