FONT SIZE
Email this
Print this
POST A COMMENT
More on the audit
Recommendations, and city’s response from the State Auditor’s reports:
Recommendation
We recommend the City’s elected officials and management establish a formal, written comprehensive plan to address its financial condition. In addition, they should monitor and evaluate the City’s financial condition to ensure the plan is followed and the desired results are achieved. The plan should be revised as needed to resolve financial issues.
We further recommend the City’s elected officials establish and maintain debt repayment schedules to ensure repayment of the inter-fund loans.
City’s Response
The City concurs with the concerns outlined in the audit finding and recommendation. The City Council, management and staff are also very concerned about the City’s financial condition. As such, we are committed to working toward increasing revenues, reducing expenditures and rebuilding reserve balances. In 2010, the City took the drastic step of laying off 10 employees and requiring other non-public safety employees to take 27 unpaid “furlough” days. Also, in 2010, the City successfully sought voter approved levies to fund Emergency Care services and to sustain operations at the Library through 2012.
Finally, timely financial reporting will become a priority of the City of Ocean Shores. The staff is committed to distributing monthly expenditure line item reports to the City Council, Department Heads and Supervisors. Through these reports, all stakeholders can participate in the monitoring of financials on a monthly basis.
It is the goal of the City to avoid any further inter-fund loan borrowings. Through vigilant analysis of the budget during the year, the Council will be able to evaluate any reductions in expenditures as the year progresses. It is further understood that if a future inter-fund loan is necessary; a resolution will be adopted that includes a repayment plan. This repayment will also be incorporated as an expense in the next years’ budget.
Auditor’s Remarks
We appreciate the steps the City is taking to resolve this issue. We will review the condition during our next audit.
Will be waiting with baited breath to hear a report on the meeting tonight……
So, we get rid of all the austerity actions taken in 2010 in the 2011 budget. We find new fees that will be passed on to property owners by service suppliers. In essence an additional tax. If the city made a priority of collecting the fees already on the books we would be fine. However, the Finance Dept says that these fees are not a priority. So, property taxes and spending are the priorities. I wonder if anything will be said tonight by the city and council members about this.
If i may paraphrase, yes we raised more revenue and spent that. We laid off a few people when the road project was completed, we’ve hired the others back and we will find more ways to increase revenue so we can keep doing what we are doing. We will give the employees more information to manipulate but not the citizens, because they are not “stakeholders”. Just pains in the ass. If we run short we will continue to borrow as we have already done between sewer and storm drain. The hell with a note and interest, go away.
Do any of you out there know how easy it is to develop a repayment plan and put it in writing? They have had months and done nothing.