Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
During the regular meeting of the Greenville Town Council on Monday, Sept. 13, the council members held the first reading of an ordinance which, if passed, would give the members of the council a 40 percent pay raise, or $100 per month above the current $250 per month, to $350 per month. A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled to take place during the regular meeting of the town council on Monday, Oct. 11. After that second reading, the council will take a vote on the matter. If passed by the council members, the raise will take effect on Wednesday, Dec. 1.
The council also heard a presentation from Ben Clark, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with James Moore CPA and Consultants. Clark provided a review of the most recent audit of the town's finances as well as answered questions of the council members. One of the items Clark pointed out to the council members was a required “Financial Condition Assessment” that the state Auditor General requires auditors to make. “It's a fairly 'black and white' assessment,” said Clark. “We take a town's numbers and put them into a spreadsheet, compare them to prior years and we compare them to a benchmark the Auditor General gives us, which is usually similar size towns. [Then we will] come out with a rating. That rating is categorized as 'unfavorable,' 'inconclusive' or 'favorable.' When we did that, the rating [for Greenville] was 'unfavorable.'” Clark went on to tell the council members that this shows a “potentially deteriorating financial condition. I know that sounds uncomfortable. The thing I can tell you is we do the metrics and it spits out a result. I can try and tell you some areas that may be contributing to that.” In the previous year's audit, that rating was “inconclusive.” Clark offered to provide the actual spreadsheet that led to the finding. “I ain't fixing to blow my mind up with that, Mr. Clark,” said Mayor Brittni Brown with a laugh. “Numbers, I let somebody else do.”
Clark pointed out various significant items from the report to the council members. One of which was a basic balance sheet for the town's governmental fund. This balance sheet showed total assets of $251,707 at the end of September of 2020. The total liabilities equaled $157,367. Clark pointed out that any time you have assets that outnumber liabilities, that is a good thing. An area of concern however, could be a net drop in fund balances. Although the town did finish the year with a fund balance of $94,340, this was much lower than the fund balance of $182,858 with which the town began the year. This net change of $88,518 in the fund balance could be a “big contributing factor” towards the audit findings, Clark told the council. Clark suggested to the council that they are “making sure you are constantly reviewing the budget.” In looking at the numbers, general government expenditures totaled $406,653, which is a sizable increase over the approximate $331,000 from the previous year.
In the propriety fund for the town, Clark stated it was important to look at the “net position” which was “what was left after all the bills are paid.” This is also what Clark referred to as the “equity” for the town. The total net position for the town was $8,559,773 at the end of the fiscal year. Clark pointed out this was not “cash” or any kind of “liquid” asset that could be spent, but was almost entirely in the form of capital assets, such as infrastructure, etc.
Town Manager Lee Jones spoke to the council regarding the schedule for finalizing the town's budget. The final budget hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m. The hearing will take place in Town Hall, located at 154 SW Old Mission Ave., in Greenville.
The council approved the advertising for a part time municipal town clerk job with the Town of Greenville. This person would serve as the custodian of records for the town and fulfill public records requests made to the Town of Greenville. They would also serve on the canvassing board for local elections. To apply, interested parties are encouraged to contact the Town of Greenville at (850) 948-2251 or email clerk@mygreenvillefl.com.