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Rapunzel
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Auditor: City surplus projected to shrink
HOMETOWN HEADLINES
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, January 05, 2006
By Christofer Machniak
cmachniak@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6304
The city's $6.1-million surplus from last year already is getting smaller, according to a projection made during an audit presentation Wednesday.
Brian Ross of Plante & Moran told City Council there is a projected $1.5-million deficit for the current budget year that would lower the surplus to $4.6 million.
Mayor Don Williamson said last week he'd like to use the surplus to build a "rainy day" fund. But council members also are concerned the surplus actually might be lower, considering more than $1 million in additional spending approved after the November elections.
"I almost feel we're walking on thin ice," said 5th Ward Councilwoman Carolyn Sims.
After the meeting, 8th Ward Councilman Ehren Gonzales, the council's finance chairman, said he plans to ask auditors whether the additional spending is part of the $1.5-million deficit projection.
City officials noted during the meeting that additional spending can be offset by surpluses found elsewhere in the budget.
More in-depth questions about the audit also could be part of a budget orientation planned for 5-8 p.m. Jan. 11 at City Hall.
During Wednesday's presentation, Ross also outlined concerns over the administration not providing the council monthly budget reports and not giving projections on the general fund with new spending proposals.
Gonzales said the council will be getting the monthly reports and he's planning to work with officials to include the general fund projections in future proposals.
- Christofer Machniak |
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Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:48 pm |
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rapunzel
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Flint is back in the black
$6.1-million surplus recorded for '04-'05
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, December 30, 2005
By Christofer Machniak
cmachniak@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6304
QUICK TAKE
Wiping away Flint's general fund deficit
1998-99 $3.16 million
1999-2000 -$13.1 million
2000-01 -$26.6 million
2001-02 -$26.3 million
2002-03 -$14.0 million
2003-04 -$7.8 million
2004-05 $6.1 million
Source: City audits
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FLINT - It's official- the city's latest audit shows a general fund surplus for the first time in six years and the first time since financial turmoil plunged the city into a state takeover.
While a surplus has been projected for months, city officials formally announced a $6.1-million surplus Thursday with the completion of the 2004-05 annual audit. Officials also announced city road funds have a $10.7-million surplus.
Mayor Don Williamson called the news a Christmas and New Year's gift for residents, adding the general fund money would be the start of a "rainy day" fund to prevent future budget crunches. He also said the road money would be used to pave more streets.
"The city of Flint is in the best financial condition that it has been in recent years and the news is encouraging for the future," Williamson said during a news conference. "This audit proves the city is financially healthy."
Auditors will make a presentation to the council in the coming weeks, officials said.
City Council leaders hailed Thursday's announcement as proof the city has solved the financial problems that led to a general fund deficit that once was estimated as high as $40 million in the spring of 2002.
"(The audit) shows the financial controls the city has in place are working," Council President Darryl E. Buchanan said. "This city is coming back. There's no way to give a negative spin of this."
Buchanan also said he hoped the news would convince Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lift the city's financial emergency designation.
Although local officials have been making financial decisions since July 2004, the city has remained technically in a financial emergency with a general fund deficit.
Caleb Buhs, a spokesman with the state Treasury Department, said Thursday state officials will review the audit before commenting.
City officials also noted the audit was on-time to the state for the fourth straight year -also a turnaround from the past where the city had a long string of late audit reports, sometimes months late.
The late audits helped contribute to overspending, and the subsequent multimillion-dollar deficits ultimately proved to be a big factor in the recall of former Mayor Woodrow Stanley and the appointment of emergency financial manager Ed Kurtz in 2002.
Since the financial crisis, the city has made steady progress in eliminating the deficits through job and pay cuts and service reductions. The final $7.9-million deficit was eliminated through selling state-guaranteed bonds in December 2004.
Officials said the surplus from 2004-05 is money saved above and beyond what the bond proceeds eliminated and after the city paid off a $1.2-million downtown parking deck debt and $500,000 owed to the golf fund.
Williamson said the city achieved the savings through thrifty management and an end to corruption.
"The thieves are all gone," he said, adding the services are improving.
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Note :I believe this article made the front page of the journal on DEC. 30th. The article in the journal today Jan 5 was on the last page in section A in Hometown Headlines... Auditor: City surplus projected to shrink. Why do you think one garnered front page placement and not the other? |
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Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:11 am |
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