In The Event of An Artesia Budget Town Hall

 

A couple of weeks ago, Eye on Pioneer published an article regarding the City of Artesia’s budget, how it doesn’t make sense, and that in many ways it seems like there is a hand of manipulation behind it.

Since that article, there have been calls from the community for a budget study or a town hall meeting.  Eye on Pioneer sat down with Andrew Perry, President of Local 1520 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), to talk about this hot topic.  

“I’m concerned on behalf of the employees that there is something fishy going on with the budget. Even just a casual glance at the current budget sparks questions,” said Perry. “The City’s finances are the life blood of the City, and therefore important for the livelihood of its employees. If there are issues with the budget, it’s important that it is handled appropriately.”

“A budget should answer questions, not create them,” added Perry. 

“I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed,” Perry said with a smile, waggling a paper list, “but I’m not the dullest either.  I just casually glanced at the budget and easily found some anomalies.  I hope questions like these ought to be asked, especially since the budget was passed under the premise that it would not be a cut in services. I’m sure a more critical eye from someone with a background in accounting would be able to find more inconsistencies.”

Here is Perry’s list:

19 Questions About Artesia’s Budget

1. Public Works. When passed, the budget suggested and the City Manager said that the City would not be cutting services.  Last year there were seven maintenance workers, two of whom were in parks. In 2021, there are six proposed, yet there are only five positions filled. Isn’t that a cut in service?  If there’s one gone, but that position is still budgeted, why hasn’t that been filled?

2. Obfuscation. It almost appears like the budget is intended to obfuscate the numbers by spreading them across several accounts, with hardly any rhyme or reason. Why is the budget set up the way it is now?

3. Artesia Towne Center. The Artesia Towne Center expense account was $212,956 in the past. Then it went down to $97,139.  Now it is $80,000.  Was the money wasted in the past, or is this a reflection of a reduction of service?

4. Positions Funded By Multiple Departments. Department budgets are supposed to be controlled by the person in charge of that department - yet why are some positions funded by multiple departments? For example, the Administrative Secretary is funded by Parks & Recreation, Finance, Human Resources, the City Manager (which makes sense), the City Council, Code Compliance, City Clerk, etc. 

5. Arbitary Funding Sources for City Manager Office. Why is the City Manager funded by the Towne Center, his own office, economic development, etc.?  Also, even though his Administrative Secretary is funded by the City Council account; the City Manager’s position isn’t.

6. Arbitrary Funding Sources for Utilities. Why is light and power, and other utilities like internet and telephone distributed among several departments, except for Finance?

   
   

   

7. A Quarter of a Planning Director. The Planning Department is budgeted for a Planning Director, but in 2021 that person is not funded by the Planning Department. Instead, it is 25 percent funded by Storm Water. Where is the rest of that position’s funding coming from?

8. Seventy Five Percent of a Community Development Director. Is there a Community Development Director?  Why is that person spread across Planning, Code Compliance, and Parking Fund, but only at 75 percent?  If the Planning Director and the Community Development Director are the same person, why have two titles?

9. Inclusion of Restricted Funds in General Fund Accounts. To give the apearance of beefed up Planning Department revenues, there are apparently state and federal grants bundled up in it. Should those grants be included in the budget for Planning Department?  Aren’t those grants supposed to be restricted?  

10. Unrealistic Expectation of Revenues Generated by Fees. Does the Planning Department actually bring in $200,000 in development fees? Do Planning Department fees realistically add up to $225,000?

11. Where Is the Emergency Reserve? Where did the emergency reserves come from? Are they based on the value of the City’s capital assets?

12. Missing Code Enforcement Officer. The budget says there are 3.5 Code Compliance officers. In reality, there’s 2.5, and that’s been the case for a long time. Why budget for someone who isn’t even there?

13. Code Enforcement Revenue Increased. Was there an actual revenue increase for Code Compliance in 2020, as proposed?

14. Utility Partially Funded By City Council. Why does the City Council budget pay for that much of the utilities? It’s my understanding that the Council only goes to the City for the Council meetings.  

15. Reduction of Service for Parks Department. For the Parks Department, it says there were 12.7 employees in 2020.  But in 2021, it says 9.45.  Wouldn’t this technically be considered a reduction in service?

16. Questions About Salaries. Are the salaries for the various department heads reflective of the actual pay they are receiving?  Are they being filled by personnel with the required course of study for that position?

17. Span of Control. Why is the manager to employee ratio so low, there are a lot of managers compared to actual employees? For example, the Finance Department has two managers, and two accountants.  That’s a 1 to 1 span of control!  Why?!?  

18. Miss Artesia. The Miss Artesia Pageant historically had $700 allocated to them, but in 2021 there is $6,700.  What’s going on there?

19. Where Are the Audit Reports? There have been audits during the last three years, yet the results have not been published.  But, I’m sure there were draft reports for each of those audits. Where are those drafts?