FINANCE TOPS TOWN HALL MEETING

Trustee Derrick Burgess

SAUK VILLAGE |  The finances of the Village topped the discussion at Wednesday's monthly Town Hall Meeting.  Trustee Derrick Burgess hosts a monthly Town Hall meeting on the third Wednesday of each month at which residents can discuss matters of the Village without time limits as are imposed during Village Board meetings.

Latasha Harris started off the questioning and asked Burgess "what is the state of the Village's finances"?  It was revealed that the Village's actual deficits have not really come down much at all.  Mayor David Hanks made public statements that the village's "deficit" has come down by $2 million, however, Burgess confirmed that is not the case.  According to the Village's annual audit report the village's "net financial position" changed by $2 million which he attributed to the Village not taking depreciation on assets and the addition of the Air Strippers.  "Had nothing to do with brilliant financial management" Burgess said.

It was also revealed that the Village' accounts payable aging report (the amount of bills piling up) has actually increased since 2012.  Burgess confirmed that the aging report numbers have gone up since 2012 according to the audit report.  The Village has been carrying unpaid bills to the tune of $1.1 million according to the audit report. 

Residents also learned that the change over for the Village's dispatch service to CalComm did not save the village much money at all this last year.  The additional costs for computer equipment and other expenses, not budgeted for in 2015-16's budget last year pushed the dispatch expense far higher than the Hanks Administration anticipated.  Burgess along with Trustees Cecial Tates, and Kelvin Jones voted no on the budget.  "You could see that the budget was not balanced when you looked at the numbers.  I made proposals and tried to give the other Trustees information so we could make an informed decision." Burgess said.  "I will wait to see what the Budget and Finance Committee and the Village Administrator have to say about the budget this time.  I don't expect that this budget will be truly balanced until they address our outstanding bills and our interfund deficits" Burgess said following the meeting.

"The proof is in the numbers" Burgess said following the Town Hall meeting.  "Don't take my word for it see the audit report for yourself, the numbers do not lie" Burgess said.

Residents also voiced concerns about noise at night across the street from Candlelight Village mobile home park.  One resident stated she has lived here for 6 years and the noise continues all night long.  Truck trailers are being dragged and one cannot sleep she said.  The same resident voiced concerns about the matter at Tuesday's village board committee of the whole meeting.  Hanks will be advised to look into the matter to see what the company can do to mitigate the excessive noise during the night hours.