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Hubbard officials seek compliance with budgets
Council members would also like to see better use of purchase orders.
HUBBARD — City officials want employees to start following prescribed budgets more closely and make better use of purchase orders for needed work.
The discussion on use of purchase orders, one that has been debated several times in the past, came to the forefront again at a Monday council meeting when members were discussing $10,000 worth of carpeting added to council chambers.
Lawmakers said they did not officially authorize the installation of the carpet, and the mayor and service director said they had no knowledge of its installation or cost until the bill came in.
John Darko, council president, said the auditor went forward with the carpet purchase after council discussed the issue and said it would be nice to have the work done.
The carpet was paid for out of several different city funds. Mayor Arthur U. Magee said he was unaware of the payment until the money was taken from those funds.
Council also took issue with the pending payment to a contractor for the demolition of a house on East Water Street. Councilman Patton Gilliland said there was no purchase order for the work, and there was not enough money in the line item for home demolition to cover the $4,000 cost.
Magee said it took time to get everything in order to demolish the house, and the administration thought there was more money available in the line item than was actually there. He called the matter a simple mistake.
Magee said members of the administration try to operate within the budget daily.
Darko said council is concerned because there will be little wiggle room for additions to budgets already put in place. The city had a carry-over of $333,000 to start 2008, and he said he is not interested in using any of those funds to cover future budget overages.
Darko said any problems can be solved by filling out a purchase order before any purchase is made and staying within the budgets prescribed by council.
“It’s the proper use of a purchase order we need to adhere to,” he said. “You have to know how much you have before you can spend it. All we are saying is that everyone is going to have to be careful.”
Councilman William Williams said he is not in favor of making any changes to department appropriations at the end of the year. Any changes need to be approved beforehand, he said. Council, in previous years, would shift money to balance funds left depleted at the end of the year.
“The budget is an ordinance, and it needs to be followed,” he said. “If they [department heads and administration members] need changes, they had better come to us when those changes need to be made.”
jgoodwin@vindy.com