JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White released a report showing taxpayer funds were spent on bloated employee salaries, gift cards, gym memberships, and other questionable expenses by nonprofit organizations receiving government grants from the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH) and the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MSDHS).
“The state must stop handing taxpayer dollars to nonprofits with vague goals and then failing to monitor what these nonprofits do with it,” said Auditor White. “The government is wasting so much money.”
The report highlights how the Mississippi Department of Health was charged with using taxpayer funds to decrease diet-related diseases among “disadvantaged Mississippians.”
To achieve this goal, the Department of Health paid over $250,000 to a nonprofit called My Brother’s Keeper (MBK). Analysts at the Office of the State Auditor found questionable expenditures from this nonprofit, like:
- The nonprofit underspent on providing services and overspent paying salaries to its own employees. In total, 55% of the subgrant paid for MBK employee salaries and administration.
- Nearly $7,000 was spent on “incentive” gift cards reimbursed to MBK despite the Health Department not having any documentation showing whether these gift cards were distributed appropriately.
- Nearly $45,000 was spent on meal subscriptions, upscale grocery store gift cards, and gym memberships reimbursed to MBK despite the Health Department not having documentation showing whether these were appropriate expenditures.
Analysts at the Office of the State Auditor also noted other examples of questionable spending at other nonprofits, like:
- 100 Black Men of Jackson was given $40,000 to address health disparities among African American youth. The nonprofit spent $2,400 on gift cards, headphones and speakers, and nearly $2,000 on 90 t-shirts. These expenditures were unbudgeted with little documentation to show it was related to “addressing health disparities in African American youth.”
- The Juanita Sims Doty Foundation received over $2.4 million from the Department of Human Services that flowed from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. IRS records show the Executive Director of the nonprofit was paid $106,050 in 2022 and $118,447 in 2023. The Juanita Sims Doty Foundation website features the Executive Director’s philosophy that “one cannot make a good choice when historically, both choices end badly for people of color” as the basis of its “Racial Equity Work.”
The findings of this audit will be reported to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
Mississippians can report any instances of fraud, waste, or abuse of taxpayer funds spent by nonprofits by emailing nonprofitwaste@osa.ms.gov or calling 1-800-321-1275.