A scathing state audit report released Friday found that the executive director of an Alabama agency used the organization’s money to buy clothes, pay for flower delivery, and a massage.

The findings detailed multiple accountability, management, and legal failures, including a lack of insurance protection for artifacts and memorabilia at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame facility in Tuscumbia. The state established the board in 1980 to honor the state’s music trailblazers and showcase them.

The audit, which examined the agency’s finances from 2019 to 2024, included several demands for corrective action, with Sandra Burroughs, the executive director, now on the hook to repay nearly $65,000.

The board had put Burroughs on administrative leave without pay in March, citing a pending investigation. Burroughs, who is also the mayor of the town of Lexington, had not responded to a request by AL.com for comment prior to publication of this story.

The audit report released last week noted the state attorney general would take over the collection. When asked about the case Monday, the office declined comment.

“It is the longstanding policy of this office to neither confirm nor deny the possibility of an investigation,” a spokesperson for the office of the Attorney General said in an email to AL.com

Auditors initially demanded Burroughs repay nearly $115,000 but reduced the amount to under $65,000 after she successfully defended approximately $50,000 in expenses.

The remaining payments that auditors deemed inappropriate or inadequately documented, which the executive director must repay, include nearly $15,000 for food, about $9,000 for individuals described as musicians or laborers, $300 paid to individuals rather than businesses indicated on invoices, over $1,300 spent at retail stores, about $800 for gift cards, nearly $11,000 for in-state hotels, and more than $26,000 to various vendors.

Board chairwoman Judy Hood did not immediately reply to a request for comment for this story when AL.com reached out on Monday.

The audit lists numerous Alabama laws the board failed to uphold, including a $600 yearly longevity payment only for state employees with at least five years of service. The report said Burroughs twice received the payment after only two years, prompting auditors to demand $1,200 in repayment.

In contrast, another facility employee who qualified for the bonus never received it.

The facility operates an onsite and online gift shop without collecting sales tax, depriving the state of revenue. Conversely, despite being statutorily tax-exempt, the organization paid sales taxes to vendors on multiple occasions. “Since the Board is exempt from taxes, the amounts paid for sales tax could have otherwise been used to support the operations and purpose of the Board,” the report said.

When the board purchases beer or wine from local retailers for resale to event attendees or banquet hall renters or buys merchandise for the gift shop, it reportedly maintains no inventory controls. Auditors found no matching of purchased items with collected revenue and remaining inventory.

According to the audit, “Due to the lack of internal controls, the Board was exposed to a greater risk of inventory being misappropriated or becoming spoiled and wasted.”

The executive director exercises sole control over the bank account and credit, and the address for the credit card is the executive director’s home address.

“As a result, deposits and disbursements were exposed to a greater possibility that errors or irregularities, including misappropriations and fraud, could occur and not be detected,” the auditors said.

The report cited failure to collect required financial disclosure statements from individuals involved in contracts exceeding $5,000. These documents disclose if any government employees or officials would benefit from the contract.

Another issue involved not requiring competitive bidding for nearly $52,000 spent on purchasing and installing a public sign.

Various parts of the board’s operation also came under scrutiny. The board, according to the report, met seven times in six years – five of which were virtual – instead of the required 24 quarterly meetings. And officials failed to inform the Secretary of State’s office for the five virtual meetings for it to put the notice online.

The auditors reminded the board in the report that those failures to abide by the Alabama Open Meetings Act date back to 2013.

The report said the minutes of all seven meetings lacked signatures from the chairman and secretary, adding that “without signatures affirming that the minutes of the Board meetings are true and accurate, the public cannot be assured that the minutes represent the official actions taken by the Board.”

The auditors found it problematic that a local business provided services to students on field trips to the facility and musicians performed based solely on verbal agreements.

“Board approval was not provided for any of these verbal agreements,” the report said. “Due to the lack of Board approved written contracts, payment amounts and the terms of the agreements could not be verified.”

The board accepts money and property donations, leases spaces, and collects rent, but there wasn’t a requirement to issue receipts and ensure bank deposits, the report said. It noted that a similar issue existed with admission tickets.

“As a result, we could not determine the amount of donations or rental revenue received by the Board, nor that all monies received were deposited into the Board’s bank accounts,” the auditors noted.

The auditors said there was inconsistent employees’ time documentation at work and could not confirm what the organization’s holiday practice exactly is.

“A review of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame’s social media account revealed that the Alabama Music Hall of Fame was closed on numerous days that do not correspond to either the Board’s approved Policy Manual or the Code of Alabama 1975, Section 1-3-8(a),” the report said.

“Due to inconsistent records documenting time worked and the Music Hall of Fame employees not consistently following approved Board policy or State law related to holidays, it could not be determined whether the Executive Director authorized additional time off for holidays in excess of what was allowed.”