Aragon council continues to raise concerns over finances
Is the City of Aragon about to run out of money?
That’s a question of real concern the City Council wants to know for sure, but didn’t get a completely straight answer out of Mayor Garry Baldwin during their January work session and later in last week’s regular meeting.
Especially when funds were tight at the time of writing over the weekend.
Council members Candace Seiz and Judd Fee both expressed their concerns over the finances during the city’s January work session, and their dismay that money was being spent over what is coming in from monthly income.
“We’re talking about spending and how much has been spent this year, and we’re sitting here baffled about how much has actually been spent,” Seiz said. “I think it would be good to have a breakdown. More of an overview of what was spent on equipment versus turnover, and so forth…”
Fee continued the discussion by questioning why the problems still linger.
“I do have a problem with the finances,” Fee said. “It’s been ongoing every month all year long, with nothing being done. If I have to stand up and say no… the monthly expenses are exceeding what we’re bringing in. And it’s month after month after month. We can’t operate like that.”
They asked for Financial Consultant Rick Hartley, already scheduled to come to the city for several days to prepare audits and budget amendments, to explain what’s happening.
Based on the city’s own bank statements, they could be in trouble.
In financial statements provided by city officials, the current account balances as of Friday, Jan. 18 were for the general fund at $16,335.59. The Special Assets Account that previously had at one point more than $200,000 invested in it is now at $20,172.74. The SPLOST 2014 account sits at only $10,231.87.
SPLOST recreation funds also include an $88,038.61 balance in the bank. However the problem is that technically speaking, funds generated for SPLOST can only be used for projects or purchases designated in specific areas, like recreation or public safety equipment, and so on.
As of the end of December, payroll after tax deductions and medical insurance totaled $23,603.61. That doesn’t include monthly expenses like court fees paid out, inmate housing, utilities and much more.
Baldwin provided several explanations during the work session as to why funds were so tight. He said first that though money was allocated in different parts of the budget, and money in other places that can be used to pay for expenses in the meantime and the council would have to go through a budget re-alignment process to allocate funds from one place to the other.
“Things are not as dire as the snapshot in one place. Everything is fluid, and revenue comes in every day, and expenses go out every day. And right now we’re working with all the department heads on purchase orders on anything over $50 goes to Rick,” Baldwin said.
He added that funds are going toward paying employees, gas, and the daily running of the city government.
Council member Debbie Pittman pushed for an explanation to funds having been spent on the Aragon Historical Society for repairs, which Public Works Superintendent Daniel Johnson reported was thus far around $750.
Baldwin said electrical problems at the Historical Society caused by damage from chipmunks caused the expenditure. The city owns the property and rents it to the Historical Society for $1 annually. Baldwin said the funds are coming out of the building repair budget.
He then went on when again pressed about the finances to say that costs also unexpectedly came in like a $5,000 annual license fee for plate readers for the Police Department. It should have been a budgeted item for the 2019 fiscal year, but was left out and the bill had to be paid out.
It was items like this that concerned the council, especially Seiz.
“Literally if money stopped coming in today, we’d be in trouble,” Seiz said. “The citizens need to know that they’re getting what they’re paying for.”
Fee asked also why the city went from near bankruptcy to solvency during the days when Hal Kuhn was in charge of the finances, to now back to having problems again.
Baldwin said he believed it was because the city tightened up, “had only a police officer and a half for, two years?”
“The money they saved came off the backs of the employees,” Baldwin said.
Fee added that it was partly due to employees, but also partly due to the sale of equipment to keep the city from falling into a deep financial hole several years ago.
“I would be tickled to just get back to half of that,” Fee said. He went on to ask for Baldwin’s plan to raise the city’s coffers.
Baldwin said he wanted to get through the rest of the fiscal year and “take a hard look at it next year, and take a hard look at what we can do to re-align this budget, and hope that Rick can find some money.”
“I don’t know at this point,” he said.
Baldwin also said during questioning about the hire of Sgt. Christian Cruz that money spent previously from the Special Assets Account was because of “the council before you. In 2017, they spent half of it. But they spent it on good things the people needed.”
“You think that the special assets fund is gone, but it is being paid back every month from the SPLOST check. You forget that you loaned more than $100,000 from the Special Assets Account to SPLOST to buy police cars and trucks and sidearm holders… and that SPLOST money comes back in between now and June 2020. That money comes in every month to pay it back. That’s what the Special Assets Account is supposed to be.”
When asked by Fee to have stricter stipulations on an account that was supposed to be opened in December 2018 per Fee’s request and a council vote, but hasn’t yet. Baldwin explained the city was waiting to see who the second signatory would be as Mayor Pro Tem, which remains Pittman for the year after a unanimous vote during the regular meeting.
Fee said he wants to ensure that the money is only used for emergencies, which Baldwin said was a discussion he, Hartley and Fee would have to sit down and have.
“Now you’re also talking about protecting your employees,” Baldwin continued. “You didn’t take an oath to protect employees. You took an oath of office to protect the people of the City of Aragon. To look out as their safeguard. And part of it is taking care of those employees, but it’s not solely that. What good does it do if you have the money to pay an employee, but you can’t afford to buy the gas to go in the vehicles for them to work. They’d just have to set in the shop.”
Financials are believed to be in dire enough straits to give impetus for one longtime employee to say goodbye to the city. Public Works Superintendent and Code Enforcement Officer Daniel Johnson announced during the work session last Thursday that he had as of that night turned in his two-week notice.
Johnson told council members he was making the move in order to ensure that his family would have financial stability and not have to worry about whether pay was going to come in. He made the announcement in part to ensure that come February, they are aware that they need to begin the process of adopting a new flood plain map for the city passed down from state officials.
The map determines where state and federal officials believe an area is likely to flood, and what costs are associated for insurance protections.
The council found they are still seeking a way forward on the city’s financial health.
“We’re talking about Rick coming for four days next month, and I’d like for us to sit down with him,” Fee said in the work session. “There’s got to be some kind of explanation. People need to know they’re going to have a reliable job… We’ve got to have some kind of safety net.”
In the aftermath of the city’s work session ahead of their January regular meeting at city hall, the council took the unusual step of not voting at all on the city’s financial statement for the month.
Fee also used his time to continue to push for better financial controls.
Despite money being tight, the council did in a split vote with a tie-breaker by Baldwin vote in a pro forma matter to approve the full time hire of Sgt. Christian Cruz, sworn in last week (see photos in this week’s edition on A3.)
They also approved a $495 fee to continue providing AirMed as an option for flights to hospitals should the need ever arise as part of the employee benefits package. It only applies to full time employees.
Baldwin called for an extra day of work session, but did not provide an immediate date and time.
The council did approve an update to the city’s portion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan as well, and undertook the final reading and approval of the false alarm ordinance. An inmate housing agreement draft was also presented to the council, but it was completely dropped since it wasn’t ready for approval.
In a follow-up interview, Sheriff Johnny Moats said it was something he would like to see completed in the near future, but it would be based on whether Local Option Sales Tax agreements can be negotiated between the cities and the county, which was when the inmate housing fees were agreed to.