DeBary to vote at eleventh hour

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Budget hearings — DeBary City Council members talk budget with Park and Recreation Director John Fletcher, left at table, and Chief Financial Officer James Seelbinder during a workshop last month.

State deadline nears for tax rate

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Sep 28, 2009 - 1:59:42pm

The DeBary City Council will have to wrap up its Sept. 30 budget meeting before midnight.

The state requires DeBary’s elected officials to adopt a millage rate and budget no later than Sept. 30. The final City Council vote on the financial package is scheduled during a meeting that begins at 7 p.m. that day.

The DeBary City Council is expected to pass the city’s fiscal year 2009-10 budget during a special meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.

In a city known for long meetings, the DeBary City Council passed a $12.4 million operating budget on a first vote Sept. 16. The budget is $7 million, or 35.5 percent, less than last year’s. The city’s property-tax millage rate will remain the same as last year: 2.5728.

The initial budget vote came after chiding from certified public accountant Deede Weithorn of the South Florida accounting firm Berkowitz-Dick-Pollack and Brant. Weithorn had just completed a short forensic audit of the city’s books.

“You’ve got to have a budget, guys,” Weithorn told the council members. The budget can be amended as often as needed, but the city has to begin with a budget, she told them.

DeBary has been starting its annual budget process too late.

“All my clients, I tell them they have to start the budget process in the spring,” Weithorn said.

This year, DeBary did not begin work in earnest on the budget until August. The audit for last year had not been completed yet.

Weithorn also recommended:

• When it becomes evident that too much money has been budgeted in a given fund, it should be transferred to other funds where it is needed, or into the emergency fund. Budget transfers should be done at least semiannually, and preferably quarterly, she said. None have been done this year. City Council members were reminded it’s their job to watch expenditures, and transfer money as necessary.

• Clean up language for contracts and services to the city. “Make sure contracts say what you want,” Weithorn advised.

• More internal audits. For example, the City Clerk could check to make sure deposits have been made. Expenditures should be monitored.

• Place City Hall expenditures of a set amount on a consent agenda for City Council approval. This will give the council a better idea of where the money is going.

• Get new accounting software. “Your software is old, antiquated and cumbersome,” Weithorn said. It’s difficult to pull needed information from it, and the system requires a lot of duplication of effort. She suggested Chief Financial Officer James Seelbinder explore options. Any purchase should include training, she said.

• Seelbinder needs an assistant. The city has grown too big for one person to handle all the accounting and budgetary work, Weithorn said.

• Compile a formal policies and procedures manual for purchasing and accounting.

• Use resources such as the Government Finance Officers Association’s Best Practices in Public Budgeting to set standards.

• Design a formal reporting package the city manager can present to the City Council. It’s the city manager’s responsibility to keep the council informed, the auditor said.

Weithorn’s firm was hired to perform a forensic or investigatory audit after City Manager Maryann Courson was fired in April. After completing this “first-pass” audit, Weithorn recommended the city not pay for auditors to take a deeper look at the records.

She said the city staff could, however, review purchasing approved under the city manager’s authority during the past few years, checking for compliance and supporting documentation for invoices. Weithorn noted that 65 vendors — a small number — have received the city’s business the past three years.

Also at the budget hearing, City Council members welcomed Acting City Manager Kassandra Blissett to her first meeting. They hired her to act as interim manager for up to six months. A search for a new city manager will begin again in about a month.

The city offered the job to Kenneth Weaver of Tennessee in August. He initially accepted the job, but then refused the appointment, after controversy arose about his background. Assistant City Manager Anthony Gonzalez resigned effective Sept. 18.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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