FLINT, MI—Flint City Council approved Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s request to amend the city’s budget by $680,000 days before closing its books.
The amendment to the current fiscal year’s budget, which ends June 30, was made with a 6-1 vote at a June 29 special meeting that Neeley called. Councilperson Eric Mays abstained from the vote.
The bonds will cover the cost of fixing the city’s wastewater treatment system. A pump that brings in wastewater from a significant portion of the city needs to be replaced as soon as possible, according to city officials.
Neeley requested the current fiscal year’s budget be increased to include $440,000 to the general fund, $215,000 for public safety, $15,000 for rubbish and $5,000 for the building inspection department. The finance department analyzed the city’s spending half-way through March and estimated this money is needed for the departments, according to a June 2 resolution by the council.
Neeley wasn’t present for the meeting. City Administrator Clyde Edwards and acting Chief Financial Officer Amanda Trujillo answered questions about the resolutions.
Some of the expenditures were unexpected, like an $80,000 expenditure for the city’s customer service department, Trujillo said.
Trujillo said the city incurred the cost by absorbing online processing fees for customers to promote its online collection services.
The city’s most expensive expenditure from the city’s general fund—$160,000—was used to purchase equipment to the fire department.
Money was also moved back into the general fund. The resolution shows $200,000 was moved from the Office of the Fire Chief’s salaries, wages and fringes budget line item.
Trujillo said the money was placed in the office, but it wasn’t supposed to be there. She doesn’t know which departments the money was redistributed to.
Amending the budget will also balance the city’s financial records before an audit is conducted.
“This is just to balance us out for the year,” Trujillo said.
Councilperson Eric Mays, Ward 1, expressed he’s concerned Trujillo acting as the city’s treasurer and CFO will impact the city’s audit. Staffing in the finance department has been an issue cited by auditors for more than 20 years.
Last year, Flint’s auditor Rehman Robson found the finance department lacked enough accounting employees. The council approved a three-year contract with the auditor last week.
The lack of staff in the department makes it difficult to turn an audit in on time. Rehman Robson charged the city an additional $246,000 for work it did pass its contracted hours. The auditor estimated it has spent more than 800 hours auditing the city’s books.
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