This financial report was released yesterday after the Audit Committee Meeting yesterday.
Remember, this is just a ‘review’ of our financial statements. This is NOT a forensic or investigative audit. In other words they are not digging around for fraud or blatant waste, they are simply looking to see if the actual accounting the city has done matches the statements. A cakewalk for any outside independent auditor.
I have argued for a long time that the city needs to start from zero with their budgeting at least every 3-5 years. That is NOT what occurs now. City departments basically take the budgets from the year before and tweak them. It’s lazy and and wasteful. I also think an investigative audit needs to be done every 3-5 years to look for fraud but most importantly wasteful spending.
This laziness (and greed) is one of the reasons our taxes and fees continue to grow at an astronomical rate. I think the city should run a tight ship that only spends on essential infrastructure and FREE quality of life (like parks). I also think they need to balance their budget each year. If the budget started from ground zero each year, you would see a lot more savings and fiscal restraint. This of course would require city directors, the mayor, and the city council to work at it, and together. I know, lofty goals 🙂
If the city became a Mexican drug cartel, the budget would be pesos. The numbers would be the same but 16 times less expense. Maybe vote to revoke charter anarchy and bring in less costly criminals. Sinaloa Falls has a nice ring to it.
You’re talking about zero-based budgeting, where departments have to justify all of their expenses on a yearly basis. Bureaucrats don’t like it. It’s too much work for them and harder to keep pet projects going when new political leadership takes over.