2020 tornado damage in North Nashville
Metro is asking for an audit of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s response to major Nashville disasters, after which the organization is tasked with collecting and distributing financial donations.
The Metro Audit Committee agreed Tuesday to ask the foundation to pick a Metro-approved outside audit firm to analyze the organization’s response to the 2010 flood, 2020 tornado, 2020 Christmas Day bombing and 2021 flood. If CFMT declines to do so, the committee said, Metro auditors will be tasked with conducting an official review.
The decision followed a request from Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston, whose District 26 was affected by the 2021 flooding.
“This is a really important function the Community Foundation provides as it related to our disaster response,” says Johnston, adding that there had been “zero accountability” for the organization since the 2010 flood.
Metro does not pay CFMT for disaster response, though the city directs people to donate to the organization in response to disasters under a decade-old memorandum of understanding. Though the MOU does not involve city taxpayer funds, Metro officials determined there was enough of a relationship to require an audit.
“The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is completely transparent about our emergency response support, which we provide to our city as a volunteer community service,” the foundation says in a statement. "We stand strongly by our work, just as we have stood firm alongside our neighbors throughout Middle Tennessee for the past three decades.”
A spokesperson added that foundation leadership has not had a chance to review the Metro Audit Committee’s deliberations and decision.
“A lot of people suffered the consequences of those disasters, and I think it’s important because it’s bound to happen again,” says Vice Mayor Jim Shulman, who led the audit committee meeting. “We want make sure the money is accounted for and spent appropriately.”
