Upon prodding from its interim city manager, the Fort Meade City Commission has taken steps to address funding concerns.
Commissioners voted at the May 14 regular meeting to close a pair of funds and transfer assets to other city ledgers. During discussions of the agenda items, Mayor Petrina McCutchen prompted Interim City Manager Dustin Burke to disclose longstanding problems with the city’s financial record-keeping.
The meeting agenda included two resolutions, one to close a grants fund and transfer the negative balance to the appropriate enterprise funds and another to close an enterprise fund for the formerly city-owned mobile home park and transfer assets to the general fund.
Burke, who was appointed in February, said that he did not know why or when the grants fund was established. The fund covered budget items that were expected to be covered through reimbursable state or federal grants, he said.
“They were allowing the grant fund to operate in a deficit position, without making sure there was a proper funding source for the payments,” Burke said in an interview following the meeting. “It's an improper way to manage a fund. You can't manage a fund that remains in a negative balance position.”
During discussion of the resolutions, Burke told commissioners that the general fund was “critically low” because of overspending in certain areas, including funds received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. He warned that if the commission did not approve the fund transfers, Fort Meade would not have sufficient cash reserves to complete the purchase of a fire apparatus scheduled for delivery in June.
The vehicle, the last of three firetrucks purchased in recent years, has a cost of approximately $650,000. Fort Meade hopes to receive $450,000 in this year’s state budget for the costs of a fire command vehicle and fire safety equipment. Gov. Ron DeSantis has not yet signed the budget and has the authority to veto individual items.
Though cities face no legal requirements for maintaining fund reserves, Burke referred to recommendations from the Government Accounting Standards Board, the primary source of accounting guidelines for local and state entities. Applying the organization’s best practices, Burke said that Fort Meade should maintain a general fund balance of more than $1 million.
Conflict during the discussions
Despite Burke’s dire warnings, it appeared that the City Commission might not approve the resolutions. McCutchen appeared visibly frustrated when Commissioner Jaret Williams made a motion to adopt the resolution but neither of the other commissioners – James Watts and James “Possum” Schaill – provided a second. (Commissioner Samuel Berrien was absent.)
Burke directly addressed Schaill at that point.
“May I ask, what’s the resistance?” Burke said. “Is it because I’m bringing it forward?”
Burke explained that the transfers were merely internal accounting actions.
Schaill said that he had no personal issue with Burke, adding, “I’m not deaf, by the way. I won’t yell at you, so you don’t yell at me.”
Burke apologized for raising his voice.
Schaill then provided a second to the motion, and the resolution passed 3-1, as did the resolution to close the grant funds and transfer the balance to the enterprise funds, with Watts voting against both.
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While discussing the proposed transfers, McCutchen asked Burke, “Would you please explain, sir, what you shared with me about the city of Fort Meade having more than one book?”
Burke said that an accountant examines the city’s financial records every year and makes the necessary adjustments to ensure the books will pass an audit. The accountant also advises the city staff on making entries into the official books to reflect those adjustments.
“But those just haven't been done,” Burke told commissioners. “And so, for so long, the staff has been presenting this commission with financial statements that don't align with the actual financial position of the city. And I don't think anybody did it maliciously, but it's just been done. And it's unfortunate.”
Realignment of departments
Burke has redefined the positions of some city staff members, resulting in pay raises.
Most notably, Greg King, hired in late March as a clerical administrative assistant, is now listed as chief of staff and public information officer. Burke has bumped King’s pay from $22 an hour to $43.27 an hour, which equates to about $90,000 a year.
City commissioners considered appointing King as interim city manager at a January meeting before later selecting Burke. A city attorney advised, though, that King was not eligible because he and Williams are first cousins, and it would violate a state anti-nepotism law if Williams supervised King.
Three other city employees have received new job titles and much smaller raises.
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In an April memo to the City Commission, Burke wrote that the changes were part of a “first wave of strategic realignments across several departments and offices.” The finance department is being separated into two practices: accounting and financial reporting; and budgeting and financial planning, he wrote.
The merging of permit management into customer services created a new department, city services, which would “streamline resident and customer interactions,” Burke wrote.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
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