Starkville Parks and Recreation Department’s late electric bills from past fiscal years are now paid in full, Mayor Parker Wiseman said Wednesday.
The mayor made the announcement ahead of May 18’s scheduled SPRD master planning session with consultants. A meeting time has not yet been announced.
After the city’s 2015 takeover of the parks department, Wiseman instituted an aggressive payment plan to settle arrearages SPRD amassed under the control of the Starkville Parks Commission, a management group appointed by aldermen but autonomous of direct city control.
Wiseman doubled the department’s electric bill payments last fall and set a goal of satisfying the arrearages by June. For Fiscal Year 2015-2016, aldermen set aside $450,000 for utility payments, which reflected an almost $150,000 increase from past line items.
At one point last year, SPRD owed about $125,000 to Starkville Utilities. That total dropped to about $70,000 in February.
“We stayed on schedule and were able to beat that target,” he said. “We’re current, and I’m pleased to have that issue behind us now.”
The additional monies will remain in SPRD’s budget this fiscal year since it’s “still on a tight budget,” he said, but will transition toward other departmental operating costs beginning Sept. 1.
Financial issues with SPC emerged in 2013 after audits showed the department was grossly behind on its electric bill. Aldermen went on to approve a $100,000 funding increase for the board but were later forced to approve a $60,000 bailout in 2014 after budget projections showed SPC would not be able to meet payroll and other financial obligations at the end of the fiscal year.
Wiseman said the department’s financial health has improved following the city takeover and the department “is no longer running in the red” as it previously did.
Master planning efforts began last year when aldermen selected Dalhoff Thomas Design Studio to lead the inventory and assessment process. The city held public meetings across three days in February to gather resident comments that the firm used to shape its proposal.
The long-range planning process is expected to help the city implement its vision for the system, address facility needs and identify future staffing needs.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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