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Payday drains city funds to $7,000
Published Thursday, July 30, 2009
NATCHEZ — After today’s payday, the City of Natchez will have only $7,000 left in the general fund.
City Clerk Donnie Holloway asked the board of aldermen for approval Tuesday night to borrow $500,000, but his request was not approved.
The proposed loan would cover payroll and insurance expenses until December, he said.
But without loan approval, Holloway can only sit and wait to make his request again at the Aug. 11 board meeting. At that meeting, he’ll be prepared with interest rate quotes from local banks.
The next payday will be Aug. 15, and the city will be squeaking by the skin of its teeth if the motion is passed during the Aug. 11 meeting, Holloway said.
If the board denies his request to borrow money again, then the city has nowhere else to turn.
“There’s no other department that has any money,” he said. Interfund loans or transfers won’t be possible, he said.
New money won’t come into the city’s general fund until Aug. 15, when sales tax dollars from the month of June arrive.
The next major bump to the bottom line will come in December, when ad valorem taxes start coming.
“If we can hold our own and cut our spending, I’m trying to get (the $500,000 loan) to carry us to the first of the year,” he said.
Holloway originally asked aldermen to borrow $1.1 million in May to cover costs until the end of the fiscal year in October. The board approved a $500,000 loan then, but did not support the $1.1 million request.
Last Thursday during a city work session, Holloway told the board he would be asking for more money.
Holloway and Mayor Jake Middleton said they were surprised by Tuesday night’s lack of action on the loan.
Another motion absent from Tuesday night’s meeting was one the board had previously discussed that would increase the employee’s health care costs and save the city up to $300,000 annually.
The board agreed on the increases for city employees, but no one made a motion to enact the change because Holloway said the city is looking at another insurance company that could possibly yield more savings.
Middleton said Wednesday he wanted to point out that the city is not broke.
City officials are only using an existing line of credit to fill the gap until the end of the year.
“We’re not out of money,” he said. “We’re borrowing this money until revenues come in.”
Middleton said he remains steadfast in his goal to eliminate city debt by the end of his administration, three years from now.
Holloway said city began borrowing money years ago and has let the problem snowball.
“This hole we’ve been digging started years ago,” he said.
In the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the city borrowed $550,000.
In the 2004-2005 fiscal year, it borrowed $650,000.
In 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, $600,000 was borrowed each year.
All loans were tax anticipation loans to be paid back with the city’s tax revenue from the upcoming year.
Holloway said he credits the city’s year-after-year borrowing to new hires and pay increases.
Hires and pay increases are continuous expenditures, he said.
Middleton said change is coming.
“If we have to lay off people, we will,” he said. “We’re trying to work it to where we don’t have to.”
All in all, he said the city has approximately $900,000 in debt that’s been building up over the years, and he feels confident he and the board can eliminate it by the end of his administration.
“If you can get rid of that debt in three years, you’ve done a hell of a job,” he said.
Comments
Posted by Natchezbear (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 12:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well now they know How I have been feeling for years now. I wish I had $7000 in the bank.Living on a line of credit is a way of life.
Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 12:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The administration of the City of Natchez reminds me everyday of the sorry Owhampy Tribe in D. C. and their handling of Fiscal Matters and the destruction of the capitalism in the U. S. and and their so-called distribution of wealth and the furtherance of socialism along with the DemocRATIC party!
Posted by bayougranny (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 12:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Let the BOA miss a few pay checks. It's not a job it's public service so volunteer a few months wages.
Posted by jammin1 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 12:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You really don't believe that the Mayor and BOA are going to miss a paycheck do you? Everyone below that level yes, them NO!
Posted by jammin1 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 12:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Although I am sure that Mathis and Grey would take the last dime of it and go on a trip. They want to go to DC too!
Posted by 2008 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Time to issue IOU's for paychecks. Until line items in the budget are gone through and eradicated how dare a loan of 1/2 a million dollars be even considered. Where is the fiscal responsibility with these people?
Posted by 2of4 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
as hard as it is to lay people off there comes a time when hard decisions must be made. Jobs were created last administration and therefore there are some departments that are over staffed. Ask those employees to either transfer to a department that is understaffed (therefore not having to hire) or let them go. our board of alderpersons are part time positions and should be paid accordingly. Use that surplus to pay our police force and firefighters. the mayor's job is full time and should be treated as such. our city clerk's job is full time and should be treated as such. maybe since he is elected by the people he should truly say what can and cannot be spent - not the board. the clerk should have more power in his job in the first place; he should answer to us not the board. he has no vote, the mayor has no vote unless there is a tie. these 2 need to work closely to control the spending of the board. most of our board have been elected for more than one term and should have been involved in the budget when things were going good, now they all of a sudden want to jump in and act like they are innocent of where the money has or is going. they should have been on the ball long before we started sinking. our clerk has stated before that we are usually the last to feel a recession and of course the last to come out of one. everyone seems to be going crazy right now and pointing fingers. this community has too much potential to quit. you have to give time for the seeds that have been planted to bear fruit.
Posted by ntz143 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If times of economic crisis, layoffs are inevitable. Why should city givernment be any different? City Hall is full to the brim of individuals hired because their cronies have a little power. Start looking at each department and decide" do we really need three people to do this job?" It wasn't so long ago that the city had a city planning office of 1...this isn't jackson or Gulfport...why do we need so many people in that department? And the engineering department has their own survey crews....why aren't those services subcontracted out to local engineering firms, cutting out personnel costs for our community? If Brett Brinnegar can be as productive as she is having a l person office, the rest of those department heads need to follow suit. It is time to start getting rid of the fat!!! And quit borrowing money!
Posted by lowrider (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Give te idiots on the BOA a pay cut, what have they really done. Other than vote to give themselves raises and fill a few pot holes. Honestly most kids would love this oppurtunity to fight with one another and not have to have the mental capacity to actually work for the community, but instead sit on their butts and do nothing. I am honestly ashamed of how these people act and what little they actually do for their money. I'm honestly considering running against one of them, if they choose to run again.
Posted by Bobaloo (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
more spew from the spewmaster, what an idiot.
Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 9:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Everyone, please read the article on the cable changes in Ferriday. Contact the Mayor of Natchez and each BOA member regarding this. This could change "our" situation in Natchez with Cable One if "pressure" is put the "our" elected officials!
Posted by Hardcorps (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 9:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Divide the money among the NFD and NPD, then turn out the lights. With the dunderheaded dolts we have in charge Natchez is through. Call Dickie Laird and tell him we're pulling the plug.
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
if we have so many people on the payroll that wages are hard to count and add
then it's time to reduce the payroll......
Posted by lowrider (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
VOTE FOR SOON TO BE ALDERMAN LOWRIDER!!!!
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
so we're already a million $$$$$$$$$$ in debt!!!!!!!!
and they want to borrow more????
what are they waiting on, CUT/CUT/CUT/CUT/CUT and then CUT/CUT/CUT some more!!!!
BILL CLINTON SHUT DOWN THE FED GOV'T ONE TIME
SHUT DOWN CITY GOV'T FOR A MONTH with only fire and police remaining active.........
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Natchez is determinded to show their "sick" side to the whole world. To the BOA, GET ANOTHER JOB IF SOMEONE WILL HIRE YOU, To the other leaders, trim down to only the very necessaties until the budget is fixed. Of course this advice will be followed like water on a ducks back.
Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Natchez is much more in debt than the 900,000 the mayor says. http://www.city-data.com/city/Natchez-Mi... This site has information for 2008. It is shocking.
Posted by mrmojorisin (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 2:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How much does an alderperson make, anyway?
I think ya'll are wrong about not wanting Joyce to make the trip to Washington. Bush and his cronies gave almost a trillion dollars to bail out the richest people in the United States with the song and dance routine that what helps out the rich helps out the rest of us....this is the same song and dance we've been hearing since Reagan's voo-doo econmics and the trickle down effect. I'm still waiting for my voo-doo trickle.
Obama and his cronies are giving away $735 billion in a stimulus plan that was supposed to be aimed hat bailing out Main St, that is, until our beloved brothers in congress got hold of it...and while the Dems were piling on the bacon, the Republicans were whining and crying about throwing good money away on the regular people when their were still banks and Wall St investment operations like Goldman-Sachs that needed billions to pay out their bonus plans....and at the same time piling on their own "let's make a deal" ham and cheese.
But there is $144 billion ear-marked in that stimulus plan for local and state governments. You can't build a golf course with your share, but Puerto Rico is planning a multi-million dollar sports complex for their island. And by Gravy, we should be there, too, in Washington, right in their faces as they dole out the dollars. Not on the phone, as someone suggested, right? Haven't you always gotten better results when you were face to face with a problem than whining over the phone?
Wasn't this all announced in the National Mayors Conference back in January, Jake?
Anyway, Joyce is right, we need to go up there. But we need to go up there to work, not stand around in awe of the liars, cheaters and adulterers that are our elected officials. We need to face them head on and demand our share of the $144 billion, not for Mississippi, but for NATCHEZ...cos $144 billion's not a lot, cuz. Only about 10 days of waring in Iraq.
But Ricky Gray, ah, Ricky...she doens't need you along on this trip. There won't be any eating out at the fancy restaurants, or staying in the trendy hotels in Georgetown. This is a business trip. And we all know and love you here in Natchez, but we also know when you get away from home, sometimes you don't make the best representative for your backward, redneck constituents, right? Sometimes your mouth gets way too far ahead of your brain...personally, I'd send Donnie Holloway. He knows what we need. He knows the figures. And we could for once present a desegragated front to the national guys.
And ya'll don't worry too much about having only $7000 in the bank, most large businesses and corporations operate the same way...I'll pay you when my customers pay me. It's the American Way.
--mojo
Posted by mommaraiser (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why don't they cut public employees (not NFD or NPD)down to 4 days a week. I could handle doing any business I have with them Monady thru Thursday.It's easy when you get use to it. Wouldn't that save a lot and couldn't they still live? We do and we'e been cut since February the same month I was diagnosis with breast cancer. We stocked our freezers with deer, hog, fish and crawfish thanks to my brother who loves doing these things. There are four of us left now and he stocked all our freezers, plus gave a lot to friends in need. All he ask for is the bullets.He pays for the $300 a year in La. to hunt by saving scrap all year. Cost nothing. In return I can for him and yes he even picks the dew berries, plums, pomgranets, etc for me . He bought chicks a year ago and said here, raise our eggs
and chickens for the freezer. We have not bought eggs all this year. It's not expensive for 10 to 15, or more dozens of eggs monthly and the chicken we put in the freezer were great we knew where they came from. This helps greatly. We have also started raising a garden and I can a lot. People have extra veggies and fruit to give if you just want to work for it. So families get together everyone has something to give, share and help one another. It goes a long way. Get back to roots and you will survive. Get back to God and Nature.
Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
momma, great advice. All of us need to get back to basics and family supporting family. Sometimes it takes a great fall to realize what is important and how little we really need. Most of us could learn something from your brother.
Posted by Kaintuck (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jake is a good man and probably as well-suited for this increasingly thankless job as anyone. But the fact remains that you cannot dig yourself out of a hole. Borrowing another half million means that we must repay that, on top of the existing $900,000 debt, with interest. This problem, just like the federal one, has been many years in the making. Jake is right about one thing: Like it or not, change is coming and it will affect far more than just Natchez.
Posted by thompson39120 (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 5:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The SHIP is SINKING like the TITANIC. Now this is SAD for sure, and I wonder how abotu the REAL WORKERS who put in the SWEAT to keep NATCHEZ going, how they FEEL. Not the DEPT. HEADS+CHIEF'S+DAVID GARDNER any of those people who only dictiate.
We know that it is tough all over and hell even California Gov cut Healthcare and WElfare, but I am sure he is covered for sure. How long did they know that there FUNDS would be DEPLETED like it is for PAYROLL and didn't NATCHEZ just borrow $500k a few months ago for its expensies there. So it just didn't get like that.
Now instead of the so called MAYOR being photoed on a GOLD COURSE that was vandalised, he should of been in his OFFICE trying to RESOLVE that PAYROLL ISSUES for NATCHEZ, because that GOLF COURSE is a leak that needs to be PLUGGED for sure. It is USELESS+WORTHLESS.
Now didn't HUGH GREEN just have a GOLD TOURNAMENT there with some BIG NAME PEOPLE, and was it HELD there. I WONDER WHY. MAYBE because it wasn't WORTH having there, just as it is NOT WORTH ANYTHING. So that is ONE thing that a HOME GROWN THINKS+FEELS about NATCHEZ. That GOLF COURSE is ONLY A LEAK that NEEDS to be FIXED, BE GONE.
For a CITY to OPERATE as it does is a DISGRACE, and if the BOA don't APPROVE the funds then what, and if it is ONLY to surfise until DECEMBER what the hell is that. That hadn't SOLVED the PROBLEM. There is NO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP in NATCHEZ and the LEADERS are the ONES that YOU NEED to LOOK at, because before LONG someone will OWN NATCHEZ, just like CHINA OWNS 20% of the U.S.A.
Everyone get YOUR LIFE VESTS!!!!!!!!!!
ABONDONE CITY+MAY-DAY---MAY-DAY!!
:(
Posted by steveholmes (anonymous) on July 30, 2009 at 9:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ALL DEPARTMENT HEADS NEED TO TAKE A PAYCUT...ESPECIALLY THE ONES MAKING OVER 50 THOUSAND A YEAR... AND YES ., ALDERMAN ARE OVERPAID. THEY NEED A CUT AND QUIT GOING ON UNNECESSARY TRIPS AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE....PLEASE QUIT DOING THIS TO US.. THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE ON THE PAYROLL PUT IN BY PREVIOUS MAYORS THAT GET A SALARY AND ARE NOT NEEDED. THEY MUST GO... THEY HAVE NO ACOUNTABILITY TO NO ONE....SOMEONE NEEDS TO LOOK IN TO THE ONES THAT ARE ON THE CITY PAYROLL AND NOT NEEDED...YOU KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING IS TRUE AND NEEDS TO BE DONE...DEPARTMENT HEADS HAVE ALWAYS BILLED THE CITY FOR THINGS THAT THEY USE FOR PERSONAL USE. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS AND IT HAS TO STOP ALSO...
Posted by duck (anonymous) on July 31, 2009 at 6:38 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by natchezrepublican (anonymous) on July 31, 2009 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW...now I remember why I left this place, I wish I'd never come back. How silly of me to think things might have changed, still the same backwards "you owe me" way of thinking. People, learn to be accountable for you actions and way of life...instead of the Navigator,living with momma and being supported by the taxpayers dollar go with the slightly older pickup and leave the stock rims on there for a while until you get a job and keep it for more than a min.
As I'm driving my old, ugly paid-for truck to work every day (around 2:30 pm) it makes me sick to see the young able bodied "people", and I use that term very loosly, sitting on their front porches doing nothing! They are the first one's with their hands out and the first ones to chime in on how the tax dollars are spent...why do you care!?!?!?!? I see older people where I work with 2 or 3 jobs trying their best to make it and probably support these thugs and social nothings...get a job!
Jakes way of thinking might not be the most popular, but it is exactly what this town/country needs...to say STOP! Keep up the good work Jake, i've got your back.
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