MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN
What to do about the IRB Financial Crisis
No member of the current commission “created” the current financial crisis in IRB. However, if they, as a board, refuse to investigate, they become no better than this debacle’s unknown creator(s).
This commission is the FIRST and ONLY to be made aware that funds were moved between revenue streams, apparently without permission, over a period of six years to the tune of over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The only way this panel of five becomes complicit is if they simply put our taxpayers on the hook for the money and opt not to get to the bottom of it.
As one citizen aptly expressed it—“Someone flushed our ad valorem tax dollars down the drain.” Don’t we, as taxpayers, especially if we’re going to be expected to foot the bill, deserve to know who’s responsible for this colossal cover-up?
Notice I said “cover-up” and not “screw-up.” In order for this accounting sleight-of-hand to continue over a period of so many years and on the watch of nearly a dozen or so commissioners, someone (or a group of “someones”) simply had to know what was going on. Whoever is responsible here has defrauded us as taxpayers, not to mention cheating the state out of their required notice by falsely inflating the enterprise fund balances with ad valorem tax monies.
The City's insistence now on an alleged LEGAL requirement for the Sewer/Solid Waste Funds to repay loans made by the General Fund makes a full investigation into this matter even more crucial. (The legal requirement deals with “above-board” loans or “bonds” as the law refers to them!) To suggest that our citizens bear the brunt of repaying so-called loans that we didn’t know existed until a few weeks ago, that were apparently not approved in accordance with State Law, the State Constitution or IRB’s City Charter—is nothing short of ridiculous. It’s like insisting that a witness to a car accident foot the bill for the repair of the accident victim’s damages. Surely, they aren’t serious?
Now that this quagmire has landed squarely in the laps of our five elected officials, it will clearly be their decision as to how to proceed. This board has subpoena power, and it’s time to use it. Why not call a special meeting and haul everyone who ever breathed on this mess into City Hall for a public hearing? (Didn't the commission do something similar with the firing of Steve Andrews some years back?) Invite all the principal players: commissioners past and present; current auditors; forensic auditors; CPAs; consultants (I hope they all fit in the auditorium!); past City Managers; past CFOs, etc. Allow citizens to make comments and ask specific questions. One former commissioner has already indicated that if the current commission doesn't step up, he will be involving the Attorney General--which should definitely be the back-up plan. This is OUR money that got flushed down the toilet and we have a right to know how someone managed to defraud us and then cost each of our households $360 more per year to right their wrong.
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
What to do about the IRB Financial Crisis
No member of the current commission “created” the current financial crisis in IRB. However, if they, as a board, refuse to investigate, they become no better than this debacle’s unknown creator(s).
This commission is the FIRST and ONLY to be made aware that funds were moved between revenue streams, apparently without permission, over a period of six years to the tune of over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The only way this panel of five becomes complicit is if they simply put our taxpayers on the hook for the money and opt not to get to the bottom of it.
As one citizen aptly expressed it—“Someone flushed our ad valorem tax dollars down the drain.” Don’t we, as taxpayers, especially if we’re going to be expected to foot the bill, deserve to know who’s responsible for this colossal cover-up?
Notice I said “cover-up” and not “screw-up.” In order for this accounting sleight-of-hand to continue over a period of so many years and on the watch of nearly a dozen or so commissioners, someone (or a group of “someones”) simply had to know what was going on. Whoever is responsible here has defrauded us as taxpayers, not to mention cheating the state out of their required notice by falsely inflating the enterprise fund balances with ad valorem tax monies.
The City's insistence now on an alleged LEGAL requirement for the Sewer/Solid Waste Funds to repay loans made by the General Fund makes a full investigation into this matter even more crucial. (The legal requirement deals with “above-board” loans or “bonds” as the law refers to them!) To suggest that our citizens bear the brunt of repaying so-called loans that we didn’t know existed until a few weeks ago, that were apparently not approved in accordance with State Law, the State Constitution or IRB’s City Charter—is nothing short of ridiculous. It’s like insisting that a witness to a car accident foot the bill for the repair of the accident victim’s damages. Surely, they aren’t serious?
Now that this quagmire has landed squarely in the laps of our five elected officials, it will clearly be their decision as to how to proceed. This board has subpoena power, and it’s time to use it. Why not call a special meeting and haul everyone who ever breathed on this mess into City Hall for a public hearing? (Didn't the commission do something similar with the firing of Steve Andrews some years back?) Invite all the principal players: commissioners past and present; current auditors; forensic auditors; CPAs; consultants (I hope they all fit in the auditorium!); past City Managers; past CFOs, etc. Allow citizens to make comments and ask specific questions. One former commissioner has already indicated that if the current commission doesn't step up, he will be involving the Attorney General--which should definitely be the back-up plan. This is OUR money that got flushed down the toilet and we have a right to know how someone managed to defraud us and then cost each of our households $360 more per year to right their wrong.
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
1 comment:
Why are you giving Valery, Wollin and Johnson a pass. They were the three commissioners that voted to approve the current budget, 3 of the 4 that hired cotrell, and 3 of the current 5 that refuse to investigate and give residents a chance to participate in curing the debackel.
All of this is tied to doing favors for the special interests that pushed these three into office: action 2000; library and a few property owners that will benefit big time from the usf study and plan amendments designed to gut our small town flavor.
We, me included, screwed up big time when we voted for these three.
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