City Financials, Other Items Discussed at Greenwood Mo Town Hall Meeting
Posted by jennW in by Jennifer Warren, Community, GSD Online
CITY OF GREENWOOD
Monday, March 29th, 2010 should have been the last Board of Aldermen meeting for the current Board and Mayor DeCourcy but Alderman Van Acker was unable to attend because of work obligations. In light of the fact that the past few regularly scheduled BOA meetings have been canceled due to Alderman Van Acker or Alderman Ring being unable to attend Mayor DeCourcy called a Town Hall meeting instead. Alderman Payne attended the meeting; Alderman Ring was not in attendance.
The Town Hall meeting was informative. Mayor DeCourcy introduced Dana McIntire, the new city CPA who gave an overview of the city’s financial situation. He also gave Chris Holtaff from Bartlett & West and opportunity to explain to those in attendance the status of the Storm Water Utility project.
Chief Bergmann reported on two of his officers who he commended for doing their job well. Corporal Dale Huffman was commended for interrupting a burgulary in The Wilds and the State Highway Patrol commended Detective Jason Prayson for deploying stop-sticks in the apprehension of a chase suspect.
Cliff McDonald outlined the work that has been keeping the Public Works department busy for the past few weeks. City Clerk, Glenda Smith gave a positive report on the inner-workings of City Hall, commending the staff on their hard work and willingness to learn new things and work with each other. She also said that they are “very pleased to have Dana to work with… she is an immense asset to the city.” Finally Mayor DeCourcy highlighted the laundry list of things that have been at a standstill for the past couple of months because the board has been unable to meet with a quorum and actually accomplish some of the work they are elected to do.
An Interruption
In the middle of the meeting Marvin Megee, mayoral candidate, stood declaring “Point of order, Mr. Mayor, Point of order…” after the first “point of order” Mayor DeCourcy said “excuse me, excuse me…” Megee persisted in declaring “point of order” and stated his question “would you please tell me why we are discussing city business when there is no quorum. Point of order” At which point Mayor DeCourcy firmly stated, “point of order, sit down please.” And Megee complied with the request. DeCourcy then continued “this is an impromptu town hall meeting, I want the citizens to know what is going on… there is nothing being done, no making decisions tonight, we can talk about city business…” City attorney Paul Campo stepped in to clarify the law saying “It is permissible to simply discuss and discuss is as far as things will go tonight. The fact that we don’t have a quorum doesn’t mean that we can’t be here tonight, it just means that when we leave here nothing will have been done.”
The City’s Financial Status
Greenwood is in a tight spot financially. After the auditors found $50,000 missing from city coffers in December, Greenwood contracted with Dana McIntire of Troutt, Beeman and Co to be the city’s CPA and financial specialist. McIntire has been working with acting City Clerk, Glenda Smith, and the staff at City Hall to “clean up the mess.” The first order of business was to do the bank reconciliations from June 2009 up through the present. Then there were other accounting odds and ends and audit schedules that had to be completed. As of the end of February, all of the back work was completed and now McIntire is coming out every couple of weeks to help the staff with the city’s accounting issues and to work on internal controls. She has also been analyzing the city’s budget and financial situation – looking for ways to save money, to use city funds more efficiently.
McIntire was asked specifically about the disputed Fire and Ambulance Bill to Lee’s Summit. City Attorney Paul Campo explained how that tax levy works – the details get pretty convoluted, but in short – Lee’s Summit asks Greenwood how much money they should have collected for Fire and Ambulance services and then submits a bill for that amount of money. Any un-collected funds, property tax bills that are delinquent, etc… are not accounted for – the tax should have been collected so Lee’s Summit bills Greenwood for the full amount. In a good economy that isn’t much of an issue because the non-collect rate on property tax is pretty low, but in a bad economy, like we have now – that non-collect rate can go up significantly, causing a cash-flow problem for the city. Alderman for Ward 1 Candidate, Darrell Grooms asked if it would, in fact, bankrupt the city if we paid the bill in full at this time. McIntire said that yes it would, unless there were other expenditures that could be put off. However she did say that Payroll alone for the city is around $60,000 a month. If we paid the Fire and Ambulance bill in full there would only be $62,000 left in the bank. Right now the city is running on sales and franchise taxes, most of the property tax has been collected. Grooms asked if there would be money enough to cover the bill in six months and McIntire said that she thought there would be. Nic Cover, also a candidate for Alderman Ward 1 asked about that point again, clarifying the fact that with fiscal discipline Greenwood is not in fact “postponing the inevitable” but can, realistically “be fluid” again. McIntire admitted that there are member(s) of the current board who have not agreed to meet with her to discuss the city’s financial situation. She has discussed things with Mayor DeCourcy and has recommendations in place on ways to cut expenses, postpone capital projects, etc… so that in six months the funds will be available. “That’s why I’m saying I want to meet with the new board immediately and look at the budget so that in six months we can have the money.” McIntire stated. In response to Cover’s question she said “Scrimp, save, put away money enough to pay that in six months, but if you pay that now you are faced with a more serious situation than probably most people realize.”
Alderman Van Acker and Mayoral Candidate Marvin Megee went to the Lee’s Summit City Council to ask them to force Greenwood to pay the $380,000 bill in one lump sum right now. Mayor DeCourcy and McIntire met with Lee’s Summit and were able to negotiate the split payment that McIntire recommends. There are no fees, no penalties no “ding to our credit”, no interest – just a simple agreement to accept half of the payment now and half in six months.
Storm Water Utility Usage
As has been federally mandated, Greenwood has contracted with Bartlett & West to analyze the storm water usage and run-off issues Greenwood faces. Chris Holtaff from Bartlett & West was present at Monday’s meeting and said that they are finished “working in earnest” and for the past month or two have been at a standstill until they can receive additional input from the board. Bartlett & West is recommending a fee based on actual impervious area – rooftops and driveways. The fee rate will be determined by analyzing how much of an annual operating expense the fee needs to cover in addition to the capital projects from the GBA study. The annual operating expense is set by deciding what types of things need to be done annually, how many repairs need to be planned for, what kind of maintenance work will be done. Holtaff stated that “everything is set-up” they have gone through the legal issues with the city attorney, set-up models for discussion with the board by working with Cliff McDonald and are at a point where they really cannot proceed until they have the time and attention of the full board and can get the board’s input and recommendations based on the information Bartlett & West can provide the board.
The Laundry List
I was a bit surprised by how many things have been held up by this board in the past few months. The minutes for several meetings have not yet been approved. There are Park Board and Planning Commission vacancies that people have applied for and would like to fill. There are temporary construction easements that need to be approved so that building permits can be issued. Allendale Lake Road needs to be re-striped. And the biggest item is being handled in a short emergency meeting tonight, approval of the new property tax levy. If the levy is not approved the city could lose 20% of that revenue in penalties.
An Encouraging Note
City Attorney Paul Campo, City Financial Advisor Dana McIntire and Cliff McDonald have been working together over the past couple of months to work with this Board and accomplish as much of the city’s business as possible. Additionally they have compiled a list of topics to discuss with the new Board. One of the things they want is to put some rules in place that will prevent the gridlock and un-cooperation that has handicapped the current Board. Campo said “we’re not naïve as we sit over here on the side… issues, agenda formation, everything we’ve been dealing with – what rules do you all want to establish so that we don’t deal with that in the future.” Additionally Campo and McIntire have been working hard together on ways to improve the City’s financial status and budgeting. They have ideas, experience and professional expertise and they want to work with whoever is elected when the new board is seated in order to help Greenwood get back on solid financial ground and back towards making this community a great place to live.
Mayoral candidates Leah Foster and Marvin Megee both attended the meeting as did Ward 1 Alderman Candidates Nic Cover, Darrell Grooms and Al Reynolds. Alderman Candidate for Ward 2, Chris Seagraves was also in attendance.
