Monday, March 08, 1999
Falmouth took from wrong fund
Utility monies must be repaid
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FALMOUTH — City council has borrowed $145,000 illegally to pay for daily operating expenses during the past two years, according to council's three-member budget committee.
The revelation was part of their analysis of how to improve city finances and their report suggests what Falmouth should and shouldn't be doing.
The top no-no was borrowing more money from the utility fund, dedicated to paying municipal water, garbage, sewer and electricity expenses.
“Previous councils had found it necessary to borrow from this fund in the past, which is illegal,” the report said. “This was and is an illegal transfer of funds, and we should make a good and bona fide effort to return this money to the utility fund.”
The money should be repaid over five years, said Don Cross, committee chair and the report's author. It is not clear yet how that money will be repaid.
The document provides other recommendations:
• Asking Pendleton County Fiscal Court for more money.
• Increasing fees for fire runs into the county.
• Annexing property to the south.
• Shrinking the police fleet to eight cars.
• Not filling two vacancies on the police force.
Following these recommendations “will put us in a position to do much better in the next year,” said Mr. Cross of the report and its recommendations.
“And I don't rule out needing additional taxes to do this. I'm not advocating any, but I don't rule it out.
“I want Falmouth to recover. I want it to be a great place. We need to move forward, and I think we're on the right track.”
Council member Gene Flaugher said the practice has been going on about five years.
The report will be discussed at a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the former city offices, Main and Shelby streets.
Falmouth is operating with a general fund budget of $554,707. When the new council took over in January, there was talk of pursuing a 1 percent payroll tax.
Money problems have been heightening over the past five years and were exacerbated by the March 1997 flood which destroyed a lot of homes, reducing the property tax base. . The city gets about $65,000 in annual property tax revenues. Before the flood, the amount was about $72,000.
The budget committee formed in mid-January. In ad dition to seeking new revenues, members met with department heads on getting more from existing money.
Recommendations include:
• For the fire department, which serves Falmouth and half the county, the city could ask the fiscal court to contribute $25,000 annually — instead of the present $15,000 — for fire services.
The city also could charge property owners $400 — instead of $225 — for runs into the county and be more aggressive in getting property owners to pay those bills. That could require a new, three-step process: send a maximum of three notices, take a delinquent property owner to small claims court and, if that doesn't do it, hire an agency to collect the bill.
• Another source of increased income could involve the Pendleton County Communications Center. It operates 24 hours a day, handles emergency calls for Pendleton County and is supervised and equipped by the Falmouth Police Department.
Falmouth could approach the county about contributing half of the center's $100,322 annual cost. Pendleton County now contributes $25,000.
• For Falmouth police, who require 63 percent of the general fund, the city could save about $50,000 by not filling an existing vacancy and not replacing an officer who plans to leave. That would leave eight officers serving about 2,400 residents. Falmouth also could reduce the police fleet from 12 to eight vehicles, saving insurance and maintenance costs.
On Friday, Mayor Jim Hammond hadn't had a chance to review the report in detail and wasn't comfortable in commenting on it, but he said its contents could mean that the 1 percent payroll tax will not be pursued.
“It's more or less on hold,” he said.
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