Print this story |
E-mail story |
This story has 17 comments Add your own |
iPod friendly | Bookmark this
What is this?
Transfers will now be logged
Published Wednesday, June 10, 2009
NATCHEZ — The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to adopt a policy that would require the city clerk to create and maintain a log of any inter-fund transfers and loans.
Alderman Dan Dillard made the motion.
“These unscheduled transfers of monies have become a problem in the accounting of the city’s finances, and I think the city clerk will agree with that,” Dillard said.
“There are transfers that are necessary, but these unscheduled transfers create an unsettled financial standing which I believe we could characterize as causing us to look at borrowing money to make ends meet.”
The board recently borrowed $500,000 in an effort to reconcile discrepancies in the city budget caused by the shuffling of monies from one city fund to another.
“My intentions are not to complicate the process, but to ensure a means of financial accounting,” Dillard said.
Dillard’s motion, which was approved unanimously, requires City Clerk Donnie Holloway to log to what fund monies were transferred to, where they were transferred from and why.
It would also require that a copy of the transfer log be presented to the board at every meeting.
Holloway agreed that the log was a good idea.
“We have been borrowing money for the last four years, and we need to get this under control,” he said. “I think we all need to sit down and make some tough decisions.”
The aldermen also gave City Engineer David Gardner permission to advertise for bids to get construction for the north Natchez drainage project under way.
Before the project can begin in full, however, Gardner said the engineering would have to be finished, right of ways taken care of and any utilities that would be affected relocated.
Gardner said he expects for the engineering work to wrap up this week.
Once the project is given approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, then he can advertise, Gardner said.
“Don’t expect it to happen in the next month,” he said. “It could be as much as two or three months.”
In other news:
•The board decided to have City Attorney Everett Sanders ask the attorney general’s opinion about what they can do about trees that hang out from private property over public property.
Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said the recent incident in which a large limb fell from inside Rosalie onto a passing car on Canal Street has her concerned.
“There is still part of that tree hanging over the street,” Arceneaux-Mathis said. “I know people are excited about these historical trees, but I would rather be excited about keeping people alive. People are assuming these streets are safe to drive on.”
•Gardner informed the board the city would place “No Parking” signs on Maple Street.
The need for the signs was to keep the street visible because of children who play in the area, Arceneaux-Mathis said.
•The board approved a joint resolution that would continue to allow the intergovernmental agreement between the city and Adams County to form for Metro Narcotics.
Comments
Posted by natashakubelikov (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 12:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Guess they can,t keep up with the all the fingers in it.
Posted by stateofnatchez (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 1:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow!! A unanimous vote to find out where the money went and then a tree fell on a car!! How very uninteresting.
Must be hump day already.
Posted by danielsbasketry (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 2:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Any tree can lose limbs or be destroyed altogether in a bad storm. There is no way we can determine which ones to cut. This should be left alone. It only makes our board look foolish.
Posted by jlmorris (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 5:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My, My, the BOA just continues to demonstrate that they are clueless, inept, etc.
Posted by EnKiKur (Marty Ellerbe) on June 10, 2009 at 5:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There's already a state law that says every inter-fund transfer has to be formal. It's just like any other debt obligation, when it is made it is supposed to have a note with a date of repayment with the additional stipulation the note must include where the borrowing party is going to get the money to pay the inter-fund loan back from.
The auditors have included this information on every Adams County audit for the last several years and every year the supervisors say they are going to start doing it the right way. The situation must be the same at the city. If one fund just gives another some money with no note its just a gift.
Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 7:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Before this meeting, it seems like the City Clerk or the Mayor would have brought this up before/this is part of Good Fiscal Management! What in the World is going on ?
Posted by itsmemame (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The idea of contacting the Attorney General regarding what to do about trees on private property that over hang public property is down right ridiculous. In what context are the aldermen referring? The liability and who pays for damages and clean up? Are they suggesting that no privately owned tree should hang over public rights of ways? If that is the case what is the city's responsibility if one of their trees falls and damages a privately owned home? Who then is liable for damages and cleanup? The board of alderman should stop and think that the knife cuts both ways.
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know - sounds like a lot of work to me - documenting those transfers. Do you think current staff will be able to handle all that additional paperwork or will additional clerks, supervisors, and administrators be needed? Will they need to travel to New York, Paris, Hawaii and Tahiti to learn how other municipalities handle such record keeping? Will they need to rent additional space for document storage? And increase their salaries because of the additional workload and travel time involved?
Posted by LOVESNATCHEZ (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LMAO... " southernwoman",,, no to the first question and yes to all the rest. It's like turning the 3 stooges loose to run our city.
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How could one little town end up in this kind of mess??? It appears you people can pack your bags cause you will soon be outta there.....
Posted by UpNorth (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a case of too many hands in the cookie jar.
Posted by ProNatchez (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 10:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Unbefreakinglievable.
Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 11:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just love the last entry!
Posted by ProNatchez (anonymous) on June 11, 2009 at 6:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All methods of accounting practices have names. We need to name ours too. How about this?
Natchez No One Will Ever Know Money Shuffler
That's a nice catchy name.
Posted by treeclimber (anonymous) on June 11, 2009 at 6:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ProNatchez, that is the best post I have ever read!! Please make sure that our city officials see that one!!!!!
Posted by Torch (anonymous) on June 11, 2009 at 7:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Private trees hanging over public property, give me a break! What kind of idiots do we have on our board. One tree limb falls and hits a car on street, probably since I've been alive, which is quite a few years and we need to contact the attorney general. I think that all the trees need to be cut down, you just never know. What happened to common sense, I am begging for some politicians with just a little; please, just a little bit.
Posted by smalltowngirl (anonymous) on June 12, 2009 at 10:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
one limb falls from a tree on a car in the history of Natchez.....give me a break....there are far more important things to discuss
Post a comment (Terms of Use Policy)
(Requires free registration.)