NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans have written Nashville taxpayers a big check as a result of that controversy involving the team and its unpaid ticket taxes.
It's a controversy first revealed by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
The final total: $120,045.
That's money that the Titans were supposed to collect from fans and turn over to the city for upkeep on the stadium.
Our exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation recently revealed discrepancies between what the Titans told the NFL about the number of tickets sold and what they told the city.
In addition, an internal audit by the Titans also uncovered questionable practices inside their own ticket office -- including tickets that were given to a professional ticket scalper to sell, then written off the books as donation to the military.
As a result of that audit, the Titans transferred the $120,045 to Metro accounts on Thursday.
With a tax of $3 per ticket, that appears to reflect 40,000 tickets over three years where the ticket taxes were not properly paid.
Still, city officials seem satisfied.
"There's a good history between the city and the Titans," said Metro finance director Rich Riebeling.
"It's gone on now for nearly 20 years. There's no reason to believe they are not honorable and going to do the right thing. And I think they've done it by sending us the money."
The city is still waiting on a final report from the Titans' auditors, showing how the team came up with that amount.
The next step, Riebeling said, is working out procedures to make sure this never happens again.
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