LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A new state audit shows Department of Revenue employees received free meals, movie tickets and admission to a golf tournament from vendors and other groups that work with the Nebraska Lottery.
State Auditor Mike Foley said Tuesday that the expenses deserve legislative attention. He says the charity golf tournament in May was problematic because employees played during normal work hours in Nebraska City, a two-hour round trip from Lincoln.
Nebraska Tax Commissioner Doug Ewald says the expenses were all legal, and blown out of proportion in the audit.
Ewald says the audit found no improprieties. He says such meal costs have declined consistently over the last five years, and the golf outing was part of a fundraiser the Lottery had advertised to fight problem gambling.