Starkville Parks and Recreation now owes about $61,000 in back payments for electric and water services after receiving an additional $96,000 in annual funding and a $60,000 financial bailout from the city this fiscal year, Director Herman Peters said.
Acting upon a Freedom of Information Act request made by The Dispatch, Starkville Electric Department produced a report Monday that showed Parks began January’s billing cycle with $112,038.33 in combined water and electric arrears — monies already owed to the department — and reduced that amount to about $68,000 in the billing cycle that covered August.
When asked about the department’s current outstanding balance, Peters said the amount dropped to about $61,000 with September’s payments, but the total could not be confirmed with the city’s FOIA response because of missing information.
Payment entries were not completely identified in SED’s report for June, July and August, but SED General Manager Terry Kemp said the electronic document’s total balance for arrears is accurate.
The report shows Parks paid $200,557.71 to SED starting in January, but some payment line items were left blank for June and July. In the first six months of the year, the autonomous organization averaged $26,162.73 per payment, with individual expenditures ranging from $8,000 in March and $34,614.49 in May. Skipping the two summer months without information, the report shows a $43,581 payment in August.
When comparing payments solely to Parks’ past-due amounts, the report shows it paid a combined $44,038.33 this year. If Parks is down to the figure Peters stated to The Dispatch, then it paid an additional $7,000 in September separate from its most-recent monthly utilities charges.
Based on the data provided, Parks’ electric and water bills combined for $204,842.35 since January and averaged about $22,760 per month.
Besides missing data, other anomalies in the report exist, including lines that state Parks paid SED $34,614.49 in May, but a check amount contradicts that total and shows a $24,614.49 payment.
Starkville aldermen gave Parks an additional $96,000 — $8,000 monthly — for operational expenses when the board approved its current fiscal year budget in September 2013. This month, the board OK’d a $60,000 bailout for the organization after a letter from Starkville Parks Commissioner Dan Moreland stated his department would fall $57,000 short for the end of the fiscal year.
The shortfall meant Parks could not make salary, retirement and utility payments even though the board upped its funding for the fiscal year.
Walking into September’s bills, Parks carried forward $21,974.76 in its checking account, but bills and employee contributions totaled a combined $78,960.23.
Moreland sought additional funding to balance the books and an increase in city subsidies for the upcoming fiscal year as the city’s three-person audit and budget committee finished Starkville’s FY 2014-2015 guiding financial document.
His letter was the first such insight into Parks’ failing financial situation this year as aldermen did not discuss any potential shortfalls before Moreland made his last-minute push for additional monies.
The board’s bailout basically translates to a cash advance. Beginning in April, the city will decrease Parks’ operating budget by $5,000 per month. That adjustment would recoup $30,000 — half the bailout — from April to September, so another six months of $5,000 deferments would be needed in Fiscal Year 2015-2016 to right the books.
Parks’ financial health and Moreland’s leadership were scrutinized in 2013’s election cycle when an April audit revealed three fiscal anomalies, including the fact the former GOP mayoral candidate issued an unauthorized $35,000 cashier’s check to help pay the department’s J.L. King Splash Pad construction bill.
The autonomous group also exhausted its improvement budget, and annual allotment of $180,000 funded by the city’s 2 percent food and beverage tax, by late May 2013.
Before voters decided June 2013’s mayoral election, another report estimated Parks owed SED more than $100,000 and forecasted overdue fees and expected usage at $180,000 for the fiscal year.
Aldermen acknowledged Parks’ tight financial situation earlier this month, but the board can only suggest financial changes since the organization is independent from the city.
Parks’ autonomy allows its own board of directors, led by Moreland, to set its down departmental budget.
Aldermen do, however, appoint and confirm Starkville Park Commission board appointments. The board can also vote to take Parks’ back under full city control.
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker, the lone board member who criticized Parks’ financial and managerial shortcomings, attempted to remove Moreland from his leadership role this month, but his motion died at the table without a second.
The board did task auditors with delivering a comprehensive report on Parks’ financial health by the end of the calendar year. Along with Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver and Walker, Ward 3 Alderman David Little, who motioned for the budget report, did hint at a future city takeover if financial issues do not improve, but aldermen fell short of any formal discussions or action on the matter.
During the city’s months-long budgetary planning process with department heads, Peters, not Moreland, met with the three aldermen who made financial recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year.
Moreland again was absent from full board of aldermen meetings this month when Parks’ financial situation became an issue.
His SPC term expires June 30, 2015.
Park commissioners meet at noon on the second Thursday of each month at the Sportsplex’s conference room.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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