A longtime Gainesville employee is facing numerous felony charges, accused of stealing more than $1 million from the city over several years, officials said.
Carl Timothy “Tim” Tench, 66, was fired in June while he was serving as the city’s maintenance superintendent with the Department of Water Resources, Gainesville spokesperson Christina Santee-Moss said. Tench first began working for the city in 2012.
On Friday, Tench was arrested on 99 felony charges, which include 33 counts of bid-rigging, 33 of first-degree forgery and 33 of filing false documents. Gainesville police said additional charges could come as the investigation continues.
“Mr. Tench had a long-enough tenure with the City of Gainesville to develop his understanding of the City’s purchasing procedure and craft his plan to hide the illegal activity,” Santee-Moss told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a Wednesday evening email. “His increased level of activity and spending over this time period caught the attention of the Gainesville Financial Services Department and prompted the internal review.”
A magistrate court clerk confirmed Wednesday that Tench did not have an attorney listed in the case file, and the AJC could not reach him for comment. A probable cause hearing is tentatively scheduled for mid-August.
Police allege Tench stole about $1.5 million in funds from the city water department during an elaborate scheme over “several” years, authorities said.
Gainesville city manager Bryan Lackey said in a statement that irregularities tied to heating, ventilation and air conditioning purchases were discovered during an internal audit this spring.
“We began an internal investigation through which we uncovered a pattern of bid-rigging and fraud using the City’s purchasing system. We took immediate action by terminating the employee and working with the Gainesville Police Department to build an evidence-heavy case resulting in an arrest," Lackey said.
Officials said Tench stole the money incrementally by rigging bids for equipment he purchased on behalf of the department. He would secure low bids under a different identity, acquire check payments for HVAC units by submitting inflated purchase orders through the city’s system, use a fraction of the money to purchase the equipment and then pocket the difference, Santee-Moss said in a written statement.
Because Tench allegedly stole funds by rigging bids, Santee-Moss said, it did not translate, on paper, to money missing from the city’s budget. In fiscal year 2026, she said the city’s Department of Water Resources operated on a $115 million budget, and she emphasized the alleged $1.5 million embezzlement took place over more than one budget year.
According to Santee-Moss, the city does an annual third-party financial audit with Rushton, a metro Atlanta accounting firm, and initiated a secondary audit of all departments to search for fraud and misconduct after recent allegations. Authorities said that audit generated no additional findings to report.
“The conversation regarding enhanced measures to reinforce existing policies and procedures safeguarding the City’s resources continues to evolve by the day,” Santee-Moss said.
She added that the city has modified its purchasing policy to require verification of all bidders through the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Tench was released from the Hall County jail Saturday on a $12,870 bond, the sheriff’s office confirmed.
In April 2012, he was hired as a maintenance operator with the Department of Water Resources. By the end of 2014, he became maintenance operator supervisor until November 2019, when he was promoted to his most recent role, Santee-Moss said.
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