An audit of the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office by state Auditor Mike Harmon dinged the agency for a 2015 error that forced the Boyle County Fiscal Court to cover payroll costs of $65,390.

According to the audit, the sheriff’s office at one point showed a deficit balance of $65,390 in a fee account.

According to the audit, the cause was due to “spending without verifying that receipts were sufficient to cover the disbursements.”

This created an issue of not having sufficient funds to cover payroll costs, according to the audit.

Former Boyle County Sheriff Marty Elliott provided a response to Harmon’s findings in the audit report, stating that the deficit was covered by the Boyle County Fiscal Court.

Before the audit was released, there was already an agreement made between the sheriff and the fiscal court, according to the comments made by Elliott.

“This office will make all efforts to pay fiscal court back for any remaining balance from the deficit,” Elliott commented. “Also, the fiscal court will provide assistance on payroll and other disbursement for the 2016 budget.”

Judge-Executive Harold McKinney said the sheriff responded appropriately to the audit’s findings.

“It did not surprise me,” McKinney said. “We are OK with it and we have taken care of it.”

New Boyle County Sheriff Derek Robbins said every year, the sheriff has to borrow money from the state to operate on until they start receiving tax payments.

“We are required by statute to begin every year at zero,” he said. “We have developed a great working relationship with the fiscal court. The two payrolls that the fiscal court covered for us is just part of our good working relationship.”

Robbins said the sheriff’s office will have the funds to repay the debt to the fiscal court this year.

“I hope that we don’t have to rely on them to cover any more payrolls but our budget is created by estimation of anticipated fees and commissions,” Robbins said.

The sheriff’s office is keeping a close eye on the revenue and what they spend in order to create an accurate budget that is more self-sufficient, he said.