So now the official picture of exactly far in the hole Hizzoner has led the City comes into sharper focus the magnitude of the budgetary issues facing the City for FY 2016 also come clear. $450,000 in trade payables from the 2015 fiscal year sandbagged by the administration. An entire additional pay period due to leap year missed in the original budget for another $100,000. The total shortfall number I remember being mentioned last Thursday for the 2016 budget alone was $280,000. Some simple addition results in $730,000 with other financial skeletons still looming, most notably the $300,000 repayment demand from the United States Department of Justice which brings the total shortfall to over a cool million dollars. Imagine the disaster if the City council hadn’t belatedly taken steps to reign in Hizzoner, a compulsive spender/addict:
Mayor pays city back for raises, but budget shortfall still looms – Stacey Cato and Geoff Belcher
But those in attendance at Monday night’s marathon continuation of the week before Tuesday/Thursday Council meetings were treated to not only the Mayor showing up but also showing out, as he is prone to do when his spending addiction is threatened. The longer this drags out the worse it will get and worse it got as we found out last night:
Sheriff eyes allegation of ‘malfeasance’ in Bay ~ Geoff Belcher
You see folks while the Mayor decided to play hookie last week and skip the regular and recessed meetings Glenn Grannan from HCSO was there listening last Thursday to the Performance Audit Report presentation on behalf of Sheriff Ricky Adams. The reviews are coming in and they are not favorable on Hizzoner.
Is overspending and misspending a Municipal budget a crime in Mississippi? I would imagine it can be given certain circumstances. None of the peanut gallery, Slabbed New Media included, has accused Mayor Fillingame of illegal activity but the peanut gallery does not conduct criminal investigations for a living. But from a larger standpoint purposely steering the ship onto the reef “out of ego” can’t be tolerated. Someone has to stand down and something tells me it is not going to be the public that is now out a cool million dollars. Continue reading “Way back in 2013 I made the analogy between BSL City spending and a compulsive gambler/alcoholic: The City is now out a cool million.”