Much Ado About ... What?

Council ooohed and ahh'd.  Was this cooing because the keys to the (almost) $20 million aquatic center had finally been handed over? 

No, not yet.  Staff is expected to gain entrance before the end of February, and the public should be able to access the facility 30-45 days following that (the linked article just had the date off by a year). 

No, the expressions of joy were because of the changes made to the format for the monthly bills.  It is ever so much better now, they proclaimed, and not nearly so many questions.

Uh, rewind. 

The long standing format was to list who was receiving a payment and the amount to be paid.  A snapshot of the new format:

 

So, adding a description -- such as "$23,836.44 - Fuel for Town Vehicles for Month" or "$2,430.00 - Construction Administration Services Site Plan Aquatic Center" -- is enough information for Council?  This was the minimum requirement Council asked for when discussing changes following last year's budget cycle. 

What it does not show is a total paid to a single vendor in a fiscal year.  It does not show what budget (departmental allocation) it applies to, or even whether the expense was budgeted for.

It doesn't show whether the amount budgeted is trending as expected, or is exceeding anticipated expenses.  It doesn't show whether there is a related contract associated with the payment, or if it is tied to debt service (bond issuance). 

Moreover, it does not compare overall expenses and payments to revenues.  In other localities and for the Commonwealth's budget, income is not what it used to be.  People are spending less, so there's less to tax.  Businesses are shuttering up shop, so there's fewer taxes being paid or licenses purchased.  Name any other organization or business that can run a multi-million dollar operation without having this type of information, please.

To see a full copy of what is approved (roughly $500,000 to $1.5 million per month),  contact a Council member. (otherwise you may have to pay for the information).  As formatted, files are too large for this blog and they are not included on the town web site.

Council has never publicly discussed income to expenses on a quarterly basis.  Nor is such information provided in the materials available to the public who attend Council meetings.  And these materials are supposed to provide citizens with copies of everything given to Council members relative to that meeting's agenda, per FOIA.

Is it time for the Finance Committee to begin discussions for Fiscal Year 2010-2011, and get year to date revenue and expenses to the full Christiansburg Council?  Is it time for this Council to have more than rare "work sessions" to dig into details on behalf of citizens?