HOLLOW ROCK, Tenn. — A vote to give Town Recorder RaSha Higdon overtime hours to catch up on the town’s bank reconciliations became heated when Higdon accused Alderman Angela Stockdale of spreading false information about her work, as well as taking original documents out of the office without permission.
Alderman Vivian Grooms brought the overtime request to the board on Tuesday, August 18, as an alternative to paying accounting firm ATA an estimated $1,000 to $2,000 per month to handle the reconciliations. The town has been behind on bank reconciliations since before Higdon took the position.
Grooms said she had faith Higdon could catch them up if given the proper amount of time.
“When I did them for 25 years it took me about two hours [per month],” Grooms said. “I’m asking the board, instead of us paying $10,000 a year, to just give RaSha 2-4 hours after City Hall is closed where there’s no interruptions, and let us get the recs caught up.”
“Was she not going to come in later and stay later?” Alderman Stockdale asked.
“Nobody ever said yes,” Higdon replied in reference to a previous attempt to get time approved. “Nobody considered it.”
The board approved the overtime request, but before the vote was taken, the exchange between Higdon and Stockdale took a turn.
Accusations Fly
Higdon said that while she was out of the office, Stockdale had contacted Local Government, the provider of the town’s accounting software, and told them she was deleting bank reconciliations.
“Why did you feel the need to call local government and lie and say I was deleting bank recs?” Higdon asked Stockdale.
Stockdale denied saying that, and Higdon said she had an email from Local Government to support her claim.
Grooms clarified that she and Higdon had simply unchecked and restarted entries in the system to correct errors. She said it was a standard part of the reconciliation process that anyone unfamiliar with the software might mistake as deletion.
“Nothing was deleted,” Grooms told Stockdale. “No checks. No bank deposits. Just because you don’t understand, don’t assume we did something wrong.”
Higdon also said that while she was recovering from surgery last year, Stockdale had removed documents from the office.
“In July 2025, you came in here and took documents — original documents — out of this office that should have never left,” she told Stockdale. “You took bank statements and you took time records.”
Stockdale did not deny taking the documents but said she had asked to come in and review them.
“You didn’t ask me,” Higdon replied. “You don’t ask me to my face for anything.”
Higdon said she didn’t bring up the accusations to raise old issues, she just wanted the board’s assurance going forward that she could do her job without interference.
“I want to be able to do my job,” she said. “I want to have faith that my board has faith in me. I don’t want lies and other people pulled into a mess that we should be able to figure out right here. I can’t come in and spend half my day justifying why I’m doing it.”
Under Tennessee law, it is a Class E felony to intentionally and unlawfully remove a governmental record, and the law gives the town attorney authority to seek a warrant for the return of any records unlawfully removed from a government office. The statute further requires that such records be returned to the office of origin immediately after safeguards are established to prevent further removal.
According to Higdon, documents containing sensitive information such as account and routing numbers would need to be redacted before leaving the office. She said Stockdale returned the bank statements within a week after taking them but kept the time cards for approximately a month.
Mayor Steps In
Mayor Ronnie Webb expressed the need for better communication when problems arise in the office.
“Whenever something is going on, I need to know,” he said. “Don’t just throw it on a piece of paper and let me find out on my own.”
Higdon argued that she had contacted Webb about it.
“The day after this happened, I called to let you know why [Local Government] was coming in,” she said. “Have you done anything about that? Have you got us together?”
Webb said scheduling had made it difficult to bring everyone to the table. He added that he had never questioned Higdon’s ability, only that she ask for help catching up the bank reconciliations.
Higdon said the pattern of past issues being “thrown in her face” had worn on her, and that she felt unsupported when things go wrong.
“I want to come in here and do my job,” she said. “I don’t have time to justify it. I have time to do the job.”
2023-24 Audit Approved
The board voted to approve the 2023-24 town audit, which auditor Matt Wood of ATA presented at the July meeting as a clean, unmodified opinion.
The town has been behind on audits in part because the previous recorder left financial records in disarray, and the bank reconciliation backlog has slowed the process further.
A board member raised questions about a finding related to expenditures exceeding budget. Grooms explained the overage was tied to ARPA funds for which the town never set a budget line.
“Naturally it’s going to be over because we didn’t have a budget for it,” Grooms said.
A separate finding showed that the town’s cybersecurity plan for utility funds has not yet been approved by the board. Higdon said work toward it is underway.
The board’s general fund balance was $752,000 at the close of the fiscal year, an increase of roughly $69,700 over the prior year.
Webb suggested using a portion of the surplus to pay down the water plant loan ahead of schedule, but Grooms cautioned that general fund money cannot be applied to water fund obligations.
Other Business
The board approved a $6,080 purchase of replacement water meters from Echo Tech for the Fowler Circle trailer park, which still has older meters that have not yet been replaced as part of the town’s recent system upgrade.
Town attorney Butch Maddox said he is still working through a list of residents with unpaid bills and has not yet received a response on the sink hole matter along Highway 70. He said his next step would be a formal letter putting the state on notice.
Public works operator Austin Ernsberger said he has accumulated nearly 100 hours of comp time and asked the board to consider raising the 50-hour cap set by town ordinance. The board said it would look into whether the Department of Labor imposes any ceiling on comp time accumulation before making a change.
Higdon said paving bids will be advertised in the paper for the next two weeks.
Hollow Rock’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meets the third Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. at Town Hall.