The McComb city board on Tuesday adopted a policy that will require the city to set aside 25 to 35 percent of its budget to be carried over into next year’s spending plan. The move came after Mayor Whitney Rawlings broke ranks with fellow Republicans on the board to cast the tie-breaking vote.
Rawlings sided with the board’s three Democrats — Tammy Witherspoon, Andranette Jordan and Melvin Joe Johnson — to approve the policy. Republicans Ted Tullos, Michael Cameron and Tommy McKenzie opposed.
City Administrator Quordiniah Lockley told selectmen last week that representatives with Banks, Findley & White, the Ridgeland-based accounting firm that conducts the city’s audits, recommended the city adopt the federal budgeting guideline known as GASB No. 54, which recommends keeping a 25 to 35 percent ending fund balance.
Lockley and Tullos had a spirited debate on the issue at last week’s work session.
Tullos said the State Auditor’s office told him the policy is not a requirement. But Lockley argued that the city could face financial strains without cash on hand to carry over into the next fiscal year. He said the city typically experiences a financial crunch between Oct. 1 — the start of the fiscal year — and Dec. 31, before the city receives property tax revenues.
“The Mississippi Audit Department said the state has no requirements like that,” Tullos said this morning. “He’s freezing so much of the city’s money on an annual basis, therefore you can’t spend it.
“My understanding is you can spend the taxpayers’ money on the taxpayer,” Tullos said.
He said he wants to see the city use additional funds to repair streets. The city recently repaved a handful of streets with money set aside in the budget but the funds were limited.
“We have got to do something with our streets,” Tullos said. “The cost of that is higher than ever before because of petroleum pricing. There’s a terrible increase in the cost of materials used.”
Tullos said the city didn’t have the policy last year and still came up with a balanced budget and avoided reckless spending.
Rawlings said this morning that he broke the tie to adopt the policy because he believes it’s a good one and the city should strive to meet it.
“Years ago when I was on the board as a selectman, we prided ourselves on the fact that we maintained almost 180 days in our general fund account,” Rawlings said. “You never know what the needs of the city might be.
“We will try to attain that goal. It’s not going to hurt the city at all. It would be a benefit to the city to meet that and attempt to exceed it.”
