As the Beaumont City Council was hearing a midyear budget review, Councilman Lloyd White held up a four-page report from January 2014 that said finances were fine.
Anyone who has followed the city since knows what he was referring to. Not only were finances not fine, the city was actually in deep financial trouble thanks to poor bookkeeping and potentially questionable relationships with consultants. The city is facing a state audit and other inquiries into its practices.
But when the city’s finance director on Tuesday, Feb. 16, said things are looking up, she had the information to back that up. For the first time in memory, budgets have been itemized, Onyx Jones said. And the city’s $29 million spending plan remains balanced, even after adjustments were made.
Those finding’s came in a 51-page report, the most extensive budget review the current council has seen.
But a balanced budget doesn’t mean the city is solvent. In fact, Beaumont had a $10 million deficit in the previous fiscal year.
“We definitely have to look at any excess we have in the budget and put it away,” Interim City Manager Elizabeth Gibbs said.
While spending and expenses are expected to be even by the end of June, expenses outpace income for the first six months of the fiscal year. That’s because property tax income, one of two major sources of money for the city – along with sales taxes – generally comes in between January and March.
“Every city has this problem,” Jones said. “You always look upside down.”
In a November report, the state Controller’s office criticized Beaumont for shoddy record keeping, stating that accounting controls were “effectively non-existent,” making it impossible to know whether hundreds of millions of dollars were spent for their intended purposes.
The new spending plan breaks down how each dollar is spent and future budgets will include comparisons to previous years, Jones said.
“It’s exciting to have come as far as we can in a short amount of time to have an actual budget we can work from,” Mayor Mike Lara said. “It not only will help the council, it’s going to help the public. We’ll have a transparent budget and actually see where money goes.”
Among the positives in the current budget is an anticipated $225,000 increase in sales tax revenue over projections, Jones said.
Tuesday was the last day on the job for Jones, the interim finance director since July. Melana Taylor has been hired to replace her.
“I feel I can make a difference and really help us move forward,” Taylor, a CPA for 25 years, told the council.
Not only does the city have its first interim budget report in a couple years, but it came with promises of even better reports in the future. That pleased the mayor.
“It’s night and day. You can actually see what individual departments are spending, where their budget is,” Lara said. “It’s going to be a baseline for future budgets. Our budget process is going to evolve.”