Commentary: Three budgets, three deficits, three crises?
By Paul Rozycki “Flint’s ‘comeback story’ at odds with its bleak fiscal outlook” Chad Livengood, Crain’s Detroit Business, Nov. 10, 2019 “Dismal finances place future of Flint Community Schools in doubt” Mark Bullion, WJRT, Nov. 5, 2019 “With budget issues looming, Genesee County looks to sell Lake Huron property,” “Genesee County commissioners ask departments to cut budgets by 10%” Ron Fonger, MLive, Sept. 6, and Aug. 27, 2019 As we...
“We knew about it,” former Mayor Weaver says of $20 million water fund balance
By Jan Worth-Nelson Former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said today that the $20 million “found” in the city’s water fund in a preliminary audit report from incoming Mayor Sheldon Neeley was well known to her administration. Though she has been largely silent as the Neeley administration took over, Weaver agreed to a phone interview, she said, because”I don’t want it to appear that this was money that had just...
“More than $20 million” balance found in water fund audit, new city administration claims
By Jan Worth-Nelson The City of Flint’s water fund has a “fiscal year 2020 balance” of more than $20 million, according to a startling press release issued this afternoon from Communications Director Marjory Raymer. Municipal finance expert Eric Scorsone, hired by Mayor Sheldon Neeley in the first week of his administration, said it appears “budget estimates and forecasts have been used for years when assessing...
City Council Beat: Water shutoff fee removed, city administrator and EAB appointees approved
By Tom Travis and Luther Houle A $75 fee for water shutoffs in Flint has been eliminated by unanimous vote of the Flint City Council. After the vote on ending the fee, proposed by Councilperson Eva Worthing (9th Ward) the audience of about 50 applauded. Worthing explained, “I’m a single mom… I have my parents, though, and they help me when I struggle. If I didn’t have them and I needed to pay $75 for a shut-off fee and another...
Mayor, police chief connect, state reps offer update, councilpersons conflict at CCNA
By Jan Worth-Nelson It was the night of the politicos Thursday at the November meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA), as the assemblage of about 50 residents heard from the city’s new mayor, the interim police chief, the state senator, the state representative, and the chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint. To top it all off, residents were bystanders to a brief brouhaha between two Flint...