One of the annual rituals we experience in the first few months of each year, is the internal budget transfers. Almost every Department is guilty of this phenomenon.
This month we received an internal request from the Rec Dept. asking permission to shift $130K back and forth throughout their current budget.
I'm having difficulty understanding, If the financial needs of the Rec Dept surpassed the amount of money the Council offered in the way of a working budget, how is it they found this much scattered throughout their existing budget to shift?
We asked if the leaders of the Rec Dept would please come to Caucus, or at least the next Finance Committee, to explain how it is that they found extra/expendable funds in any accounts to pull money from for the purpose of suring up other accounts?Didn't we hear the cries of poverty during the budget process? Didn't we lose a few positions?
There's more...$31K is expected to come out of the Fund Balance to sure up these accounts. Bob Senor made the right complaint when he said: "When the Council tapped into the Fund Balance last fall to provide some resemblance of tax relief, we were scolded by the Mayor for doing such, but here we are allowing the Rec Dept to do the same with his permission! Who's running this ship?"Well, I'm just looking at two pages of account numbers and dollar amounts showing credits & debits. Some lines as high as $15K and $10K. What lines in their budget had that much fat?
That Finance meeting, March 18th, is going to be interesting!
6 comments:
Your passion on this issue is quite evident as there are numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes in your post.
If your first scuffle is with the Rec Department, I would say you are in for quite a ride with DPW, Fire and Police.
Correct me if I am right, but the problem here is that its money that is already spent.
Mike you should know what you approved in the 2009 budget and why only two months into the year are they doing transfers from other line items. These should have been found by the council when reviewing the budget all budget line items.
It is understandable when this happens at the end of the budget year because it is only logical that you spend less in some areas and more in others over the course of a year.
But for this moving of money to be happening just over 2 months into the budget year is suspect.
Thank you for bringing this to light, you represent your ward well.
If I understand correctly, there is a new Committee to safeguard against future unnecessary expenditures, correct? Has it caught any questionable purchases in the KFD, DPW or KPD?
What's the scoop?
DPW is now beyond the control of any mortal human being IMHO. They just missed a garbage pickup en toto and strewn garbage next door to this latest fiasco last month and I am hopping mad. The results here threaten public health and the outrageous response from the Mayor has now placed this city in the position of insubordination and eligible to be taken over by some higher level of government in this state. They are outrageous and outrageously arrogant to boot.
I've never seen anything like their performance this year with this crap plus leaving ice on the roads for ten days after a snowstorm. It is time for big reform and probably past time when you have symptoms this extreme.
Gallo promised DPW reform. It is now undeniable this must somehow be accomplished.
I think its a shame that Rec Department got the BIG ONE from this city. The only people that will hurt is the hurting poor people and the kids. The 20 year workers and the people that give everything for this city. It seems like no one cares about the roundout public housing but everyone goes out of there way for the water front. Its sad that this is what is going on. Maybe if the peole in charge walked in some of the shoes that the people that live in the roundout walked in, they would not get rid of the programs.
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