So You Want To Know Why? Part 1.

I am being asked why I don’t speak out against this council on the fire chief issue.

Simply because I do not know what is right and what is wrong so I will try and explain it here.

I am also being asked why I want to have the fire chief fired.

So let me make this clear once and for all.

I have never said “FIRE OUR CHIEF”.

To begin with, I have spoken out about the budgetary problems of his department.

But I have to consider the administrators and councils role in this as well.

But when I see the auditor every year give his report and the financials which come my way, I see some very serious problems here.

But then again I have to consider the administrator and councils roles in this matter.

I have seen him come to council, a many a times and watched him ask but they gave.

I know he understands he is responsible for his budget, because all I have to do is go to the fire department web site and read the strategic plan he wrote for the City to get the job.

Oh he makes a hard sale on his ability there but do I feel his words were just a bunch of bull?

When I look at the books I see money missing all over the place.

I can see $345,075.00 missing between the 2007 and 2008 ending balances in the books.

Where did that go?

The auditor’s report is on line just do the math.

The ending balance in 2007 was $414,036.00.

In 2008 that department brought in revenue of $208,572.00

But that department spent $225,358.00

So on paper that department spent $16,786.00 more than it made in revenues.

But is that correct?

No because on May 25^th of this year, our bookkeeper learned and reported to the budget committee a mistake was made and $48,325.96 in this fund in the 08 budget year accidentally paid electric, CATV, water and road departments from that fund, in a double billing mistake for some work that was done for the emergency services department.

Well that would decrease the expenditures line item to $177, 032.04.

So in reality this department earned $31,539.96 more than it spent this budget year.

Well from that point on we have a carry through deficit that is going to affect that fund in the books in the following budget years.

Well that now takes my $345,075 that I saw missing in the books down to $296,749.04.

So the books show an ending balance in 2008 of $52,175.00.

But in reality the ending balance was $100,500.96

But let’s get back to the missing $296,749.04.

I have already accounted for the billing error so if I deduct the original $52,175.00 ending fund balance in the books of the 08 budget year, where did $244,574.04 go?

If that had carried through there would still be $212,446.04 in the emergency services fund at the end of the 2010 budget year and there would have been no budget law violation last year.

As a matter of fact if that fund had paid let’s say $50,000.00 a year towards the bills it has not been paying that fund would still have $62,446.04.

Now if I even jump ahead to last year when this fund violated budget law and deduct the $32,128.00 fund deficit that fund still has $30,318.04.

So where is this money?

Is this our chief’s fault?

I don’t think so or I would be seeing it in the expenditures line item for this fund.

The first thing that comes to my mind is our former administrator was an expert in the interfund transfer shuffle.

He played comptroller with our previous budget committee’s and danced his dance and they rubber stamped it.

And he really knew how to dance that dance to council’s for his rubber stamp.

Yet in all fairness again our financial officer having to go back to the dance master to learn that she made this mistake has me concerned as well.

I have looked at this fund from all sides publically known.

I have many other concerns with this fund and its financial management but this is just a good starting point.

More later.

Cody