I reckon over the past month or so I could have taken a victory lap or two but knowing what is in store has taken the celebratory edge off here at Slabbed New Media. What I am talking about?
1. $300,000 in Equitable Sharing Funds to be repaid.
2. Water and Sewer bond sinking fund, supposedly funded with a $13/month utility account surcharge, is missing another $300,000 or so as the surcharge has been diverted to pay the City’s operating expenses.
Item 1 plus 2 equal over $600,000 but it is worse than that – it has to be because of the problems with not paying Fuelman signals a larger problem for the City of Bay St Louis in not having any cash despite this being the cash rich time of the year for a Mississippi municipality. So the big question remains the same, how much is the accumulated deficit Hizzoner has diligently tried to hide? I poised that question to friends in both high and low places. The best guess answer came from a City official under grant of anonymity as this official was not authorized to discuss the City’s finances and the number is….. Continue reading “Looking ahead and back: Hattiesburg Schools offers the preview”