When the town does not enough money to pay ALL the bills in the month, doesn’t that tell you something about the budget? Are we to juggle money now? Will we have to pass a resolution to transfer money? Fees involving the lagoon project should be paid out of the Grant monies, this includes engineering fees. So , if the budget is in good stead, we should be able to cover our bills. We will have to wait and see which bills were left for later to pay.
How is this even POSSIBLE? Why just a month ago during budget discussions the Mayor and Councilperson Price specifically stated on the video that our town’s budget was in such GREAT shape. Enough money to fund all current expenditures, enough to give 2% raises to all employees. When was the last time the Town’s budget had an official audit? Would MMIA be interested in this? Unbelievable.
While in the town office, an employee was on the phone with (Mayor?) and said we did not have enough funds to pay all the bills this month. Where the shortfall is, is a mystery, as I had gone over the preliminary budget with a fine tooth comb, making notes in the margins to find wasted monies. And found quite a lot, In conjunction with all the vendor actuals (invoices we have paid). These figures were presented at the last budget workshop and the Mayor and two councilmembers would not even look at them. I was asked to “just give us the numbers – verbally “.. when I started to do that I was cut off by Mrs. Price asking me to present a financial showing them how we would save economically by the cuts I suggested. In turn , I wanted a financial from them showing us how we would benefit financially by keeping the current budget intact, which I never received, and that subject was never again mentioned by either Price or Perkins.
Now, if we had more expenses that anticipated this month, we will have to transfer funds, which involves a resolution to do so. I suppose we will see where that shortfall lies, as we go over the bills. I will have some questions. I am willing to bet they are not mentioned and they will be paid at a later date.
The Town is only required to have an audit every two-three years , as our revenue is below $500,000. Our budget is at this point about $385,000. But as we have received grant monies, there will an audit every year, until the lagoon project is complete. The MMIA is aware of the problems, not just the budget, but of the continuous complaints and have stated openly to the Mayor that our town is at risk liability wise. I continue to touch base with several agencies at the state on issues concerning the town.
It sounds like there was an overage in a department budget somewhere and we can fix that with a transfer of funds. But , you are right, it is unbelievable, which tells me that the budget has to be amended to cut waste of supplies, vehicle maintenance, employee time and etc.
If done right , with planning and common sense, we can still afford a few raises, but I think the job performance has to justify that raise and at this time I don’t see it. But as usual, there is ALWAYS an explanation.
The state will not get to the point of approving our budget soon, likely in December sometime (maybe).
After thought: Until we find out what this is all about, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. if I spoke in error, I will be the first one to say that. What was conveyed sounded worrisome, but , and there is always a but. I will check it out. Now, we have not always been apprised of the facts and I usually am advised to talk to the Mayor. We will see how this shakes out. As we all know…. Assume, means?
In reference to the ads placed for Town Attorney, a question was asked about the cost of the ads. Going back through the vendor actuals (expenditures) I found two expenditures for The Billings Times and The Carbon County News. These were in the August bills totaling $1445.90.
Now these may have been ads for Town Attorney. The expenditure ledger does not give specifics ( What the ads were actually for), only the date, name of vendor and cost. It is very simple and imperative that these specifics be given, so you can easily see what that cost was for and who payment was made to, along with dates. All we have are dates, name and costs. Our computer system needs to used correctly and possibly upgraded or changed, along with discussion on how to enter vouchers. I have not been through an audit for the town yet, but I am surprised (having worked with auditors for years) that wasn’t an exception made to the audit. And maybe I am used to auditors that are more demanding when it comes to preciseness.
Guess we will find out soon, as audits will take place, with grant monies involved.
The Town of Fromberg has fiduciary duty and responsibility to the taxpayers thereof. Even rudimentary accounting packages like Quicken allow for “sorting searches” which allow for every permutation needed to extract any specific query. Is this simply a case of “garbage in, garbage out”? Specificity in entering data is crucial!
Earlier, we offered the solution that running a general help-wanted ad would serve the same purpose, but save crucial advertising dollars. The Carbon County News is our “Paper of Record”. For what purpose would the Town of Fromberg advertise in The Billings Times, which is based in Yellowstone County? Why doesn’t the Town of Fromberg post all Job Openings at their three specified locations in Fromberg? Why aren’t they listed at: http://fromberg-mt.gov/
Most municipalities do this. As always, lots of questions which the current mayor deigns to answer.
The Fromberg website only carries the Town Codes, Ordinances and Resolutions. They do not post employment openings. As far as I know the Mayor is the person that posts those on the site, plus the minutes of the meetings.
As most communications are now electronic,
(State of Montana now only accepts digital documents) it seems logical that ALL information would be listed at: http://fromberg-mt.gov
These duties are clerical and not mayoral, and should reside with the Fromberg Town Clerk. Job listings, Monthly minutes, Ordinances, Resolutions and ANY pertinent information should be CURRENT and easily assesssble. The last entry for Minutes on the above specified website was August 7, 2017. The last entry for News on the above specified website was June 24, 2016. (Proof by photos with date stamp). This is UNACCEPTABLE. Especially given the fact all Town employees received a 2% raise at the last Council meeting.
This is why I stated that all the vendors, payments, and specifics and dates of statements need to be entered into the data base . As it is, some do have a wide and varied description, such as: tools (?) supplies for parks, supplies for water and etc. Should state: wrench: hammer: O rings, etc.
I am sure that there is a window in which each query entered can be brought up and printed. When I asked for vendor actuals , the employee was not sure what I wanted and had to search for some time to find it. I am sure the Mayor was the person who printed the original report for the council. Now perhaps I could have went into the program and printed what I wanted in less time, but according to ethics guidelines, an elected official should NOT have access to city computers, as it invites mishandling of records. Not saying that has been done, but none the less it should not be done, that is the clerks job.
The payment to the two papers did not state what ads were posted , so will have to go back through the vouchers and research, which is extra time used , when any inquiry should be stated on the expenditure printout. I did the same job (plus) for over 15 years and would’ve had an exception written by the auditors had it been done this way. There are certain things that must be changed and soon.
Well, when I am in error about something, I will say I am. Back to bills and funding, I talked to the town clerk and she explained that the reason it came up on the computer for lack of funds was because the NEW budget had not been loaded on the computer yet. Now, I can understand her dilemma, but do not understand why it had not been updated. The budget had to passed by a certain date and we have had plenty of time to load the new budget. It should have been done right after the meeting, in the next few days or so. But…. what’s done is done and we will move on. Just another item that needs to be taken care of in the future. So, I was wrong in saying the funding was not there, as I assumed (you know what that means) that the new budget was already on the computer.
When the town does not enough money to pay ALL the bills in the month, doesn’t that tell you something about the budget? Are we to juggle money now? Will we have to pass a resolution to transfer money? Fees involving the lagoon project should be paid out of the Grant monies, this includes engineering fees. So , if the budget is in good stead, we should be able to cover our bills. We will have to wait and see which bills were left for later to pay.
How is this even POSSIBLE? Why just a month ago during budget discussions the Mayor and Councilperson Price specifically stated on the video that our town’s budget was in such GREAT shape. Enough money to fund all current expenditures, enough to give 2% raises to all employees. When was the last time the Town’s budget had an official audit? Would MMIA be interested in this? Unbelievable.
While in the town office, an employee was on the phone with (Mayor?) and said we did not have enough funds to pay all the bills this month. Where the shortfall is, is a mystery, as I had gone over the preliminary budget with a fine tooth comb, making notes in the margins to find wasted monies. And found quite a lot, In conjunction with all the vendor actuals (invoices we have paid). These figures were presented at the last budget workshop and the Mayor and two councilmembers would not even look at them. I was asked to “just give us the numbers – verbally “.. when I started to do that I was cut off by Mrs. Price asking me to present a financial showing them how we would save economically by the cuts I suggested. In turn , I wanted a financial from them showing us how we would benefit financially by keeping the current budget intact, which I never received, and that subject was never again mentioned by either Price or Perkins.
Now, if we had more expenses that anticipated this month, we will have to transfer funds, which involves a resolution to do so. I suppose we will see where that shortfall lies, as we go over the bills. I will have some questions. I am willing to bet they are not mentioned and they will be paid at a later date.
The Town is only required to have an audit every two-three years , as our revenue is below $500,000. Our budget is at this point about $385,000. But as we have received grant monies, there will an audit every year, until the lagoon project is complete. The MMIA is aware of the problems, not just the budget, but of the continuous complaints and have stated openly to the Mayor that our town is at risk liability wise. I continue to touch base with several agencies at the state on issues concerning the town.
It sounds like there was an overage in a department budget somewhere and we can fix that with a transfer of funds. But , you are right, it is unbelievable, which tells me that the budget has to be amended to cut waste of supplies, vehicle maintenance, employee time and etc.
If done right , with planning and common sense, we can still afford a few raises, but I think the job performance has to justify that raise and at this time I don’t see it. But as usual, there is ALWAYS an explanation.
The state will not get to the point of approving our budget soon, likely in December sometime (maybe).
After thought: Until we find out what this is all about, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. if I spoke in error, I will be the first one to say that. What was conveyed sounded worrisome, but , and there is always a but. I will check it out. Now, we have not always been apprised of the facts and I usually am advised to talk to the Mayor. We will see how this shakes out. As we all know…. Assume, means?
In reference to the ads placed for Town Attorney, a question was asked about the cost of the ads. Going back through the vendor actuals (expenditures) I found two expenditures for The Billings Times and The Carbon County News. These were in the August bills totaling $1445.90.
Now these may have been ads for Town Attorney. The expenditure ledger does not give specifics ( What the ads were actually for), only the date, name of vendor and cost. It is very simple and imperative that these specifics be given, so you can easily see what that cost was for and who payment was made to, along with dates. All we have are dates, name and costs. Our computer system needs to used correctly and possibly upgraded or changed, along with discussion on how to enter vouchers. I have not been through an audit for the town yet, but I am surprised (having worked with auditors for years) that wasn’t an exception made to the audit. And maybe I am used to auditors that are more demanding when it comes to preciseness.
Guess we will find out soon, as audits will take place, with grant monies involved.
The Town of Fromberg has fiduciary duty and responsibility to the taxpayers thereof. Even rudimentary accounting packages like Quicken allow for “sorting searches” which allow for every permutation needed to extract any specific query. Is this simply a case of “garbage in, garbage out”? Specificity in entering data is crucial!
Earlier, we offered the solution that running a general help-wanted ad would serve the same purpose, but save crucial advertising dollars. The Carbon County News is our “Paper of Record”. For what purpose would the Town of Fromberg advertise in The Billings Times, which is based in Yellowstone County? Why doesn’t the Town of Fromberg post all Job Openings at their three specified locations in Fromberg? Why aren’t they listed at:
http://fromberg-mt.gov/
Most municipalities do this. As always, lots of questions which the current mayor deigns to answer.
The Fromberg website only carries the Town Codes, Ordinances and Resolutions. They do not post employment openings. As far as I know the Mayor is the person that posts those on the site, plus the minutes of the meetings.
As most communications are now electronic,
(State of Montana now only accepts digital documents) it seems logical that ALL information would be listed at:
http://fromberg-mt.gov
These duties are clerical and not mayoral, and should reside with the Fromberg Town Clerk. Job listings, Monthly minutes, Ordinances, Resolutions and ANY pertinent information should be CURRENT and easily assesssble. The last entry for Minutes on the above specified website was August 7, 2017. The last entry for News on the above specified website was June 24, 2016. (Proof by photos with date stamp). This is UNACCEPTABLE. Especially given the fact all Town employees received a 2% raise at the last Council meeting.
This is why I stated that all the vendors, payments, and specifics and dates of statements need to be entered into the data base . As it is, some do have a wide and varied description, such as: tools (?) supplies for parks, supplies for water and etc. Should state: wrench: hammer: O rings, etc.
I am sure that there is a window in which each query entered can be brought up and printed. When I asked for vendor actuals , the employee was not sure what I wanted and had to search for some time to find it. I am sure the Mayor was the person who printed the original report for the council. Now perhaps I could have went into the program and printed what I wanted in less time, but according to ethics guidelines, an elected official should NOT have access to city computers, as it invites mishandling of records. Not saying that has been done, but none the less it should not be done, that is the clerks job.
The payment to the two papers did not state what ads were posted , so will have to go back through the vouchers and research, which is extra time used , when any inquiry should be stated on the expenditure printout. I did the same job (plus) for over 15 years and would’ve had an exception written by the auditors had it been done this way. There are certain things that must be changed and soon.
Well, when I am in error about something, I will say I am. Back to bills and funding, I talked to the town clerk and she explained that the reason it came up on the computer for lack of funds was because the NEW budget had not been loaded on the computer yet. Now, I can understand her dilemma, but do not understand why it had not been updated. The budget had to passed by a certain date and we have had plenty of time to load the new budget. It should have been done right after the meeting, in the next few days or so. But…. what’s done is done and we will move on. Just another item that needs to be taken care of in the future. So, I was wrong in saying the funding was not there, as I assumed (you know what that means) that the new budget was already on the computer.