Mayor Receiving a Raise???
Recently in the County Edge, there was a story citing the fact that the current Mayor of IT was receiving $200.00 extra each month for expenses in addition to her salary of $350.00 per month. This extra income was given to the Mayor without any backup documentation and regardless of actual expenses. This particular Mayor has received the extra funds for all but the first 6 months of her term and was started by then manager John Munn. Interesting note was that no one on the council seemed to be aware that the mayor was receiving these funds. Further searches have not produced documentation that shows the council voted this into place. The Mayor of course is pleading innocence and seem to believe that this was how it was done. Apparently, not all the previous Mayors have had access to this slush fund. The previous Mayor, Ed Smith stated he never received dime one of the so called expense money. The payments will now be stopped to the current mayor.
This is not an attack on the current Mayor but more as an attack on the previous councils that allowed this to happen in the first place. The so called stewards of our tax money appear to not pay attention to such details. The citizens of Indian Trail should be outraged. Personally, if the Mayor incurs such expenses then she or elected officials should be able to get a reimbursement, but only in proper documentation is followed. They should be legitimate expenses and should not be considered a perk to the office of Mayor. I have to believe that companies in the US operate the same way, so why should an elected official be able to collect tax money with no documentation? This action may not be illegal, but for sure it falls short of moral or ethical in nature. Elected officials need to be held accountable for their actions and responsible enough to handle the nature of the office.
I wonder if any other towns allow such expenses to be paid? Or is Indian Trail the only one that has allowed this behavior? What do you think?
posted by Lee Godwin at
8:10 AM
5 Comments:
Lee-
As interesting as your post may be to some, I really should cast some light on it.
If you are as concerned as you appear to be, you should schedule an appointment with our town manager, and get the real facts. Documentation, that I have read so far, goes back at least 9 years and shows it was available to previous mayors. It was not voted on as a separate item, but was included in the budget under travel and expense.
This precedence has been in place for years. I cannot/will not speak for the former mayor, it was his choice to receive or deny. I do know for a fact that he knew about it, because I was on that council. Perhaps the amount of activity that a position is given is the gauge.
If a council member voted on a budget and now claims they didn't know what was in it, shame on them. It is of the utmost importance that any elected official, at minimum, studies and understands a budget before the vote is cast. It is up to the individual council member to ask questions and to not expect other council members to assume what is known or not known. Usually the town manager spends individual time with each council member before the public hearing to be sure that he/she understands each and every item. The first budget I ever voted on was scrutinized by me in a one-on-one session with the town manager. Never did I expect to be spoon-fed any information, but instead get in there and learn it myself.
I voluntarily offered to not receive the $200. per month any longer, but instead file a monthly expense report, or not. It makes absolutely no difference to me.
It appears to be commonplace for you to make comments publicly that have not been thoroughly researched. I realize you now have a little more time on your hands, perhaps to do proper research before blogging on things you don’t fully understand or have been misled on by any published media that is typically far removed from the “edge” of truth.
Sandy Moore
The County Edge, whoever said that RAG was a news paper? Everybody knows that RAG trash is driven by Fern the professional politician. I think Shirley B, wrote that article who would like nothing more than to make trouble for the current Mayor. If it was so newsworthy why did none of the other local papers pick up the story line? Newspapers are there to make $$ not to necessarily tell the whole truth, the spin is what sells papers. You know that!
This so called slush fund “your words” is a very common practice in the business world. I myself receive a check each month for normal business expenses without sending in an expense report. Over time business are able to develop trends on expenditures and estimate the monthly expenses of employees. Once these costs are developed it’s easier to pay the employee the trended amount without submitting a written expense report. Saves time and $$, handling paperwork over and over cost $$ each month. The more time city employees spend on these very small detail items the less time they have to work on serving the community and the bigger needs of Indian Trail. At some point you have to let the town manager do his oversight job. Trust the town employees to do theirs and move own. Your to caught us in the details, lets think big picture, quality of life and get own with improving services and quality of life in Indian Trail. Stop sweating the small stuff.
Given the time and effort the mayor and council spend on town business $200 is nothing in the big picture. I think they all need more money. You get what you pay for! I think everyone on the board should get $200 a month for expenses. Where I come from people would laugh at what they get paid. Yes its public service, but who said you had to do it for FREE? I also think taxes should go up, this place it way low on tax fees for this area, no wonder everyone wants to live here. It’s almost free! We have a lot of people here; they should pay for the privilege to live here!
I doubt the citizens are outraged at these payments; it’s the cost of doing business plain and simple. Most mature educated citizens know that and have no problem with it. The sitting mayor does a fine job; and it does take time to meet her obligations for the town. I hope she runs again or runs for council.
Thanks Madam Mayor for your commitment to the citizens of Indian Trail and the class by which you represent our town.
Don’t let these few get you down!!!
Full speed ahead, let’s move forward and not dwell in the past!
I believe in letting people do the job they were elected to do, not being a “watchdog” over every little detail. Lee, find something positive to push for in Indian Trail that will REALLY make a difference, not this petty stuff.
I appreciate the comments from others and would like your continued input. The County Edge reported this article. I was merely expressing my thoughts for the situation. Not right or wrong. This type of government tends to rub some people the wrong way...especially when dollars for improvements, parks, and so on are at a needed commodity. This was not an attack on the current mayor as much as an attack on the "system itself". The thing that strikes me funny is that not all councilmembers new of such a thing? Why is it that just the Mayors were entitled to this benefit? To me, if there is no documentation for the expenses, then it equals a pay raise. I don't necessarily believe it to be illegal but there is something not quite right about it. Everyone has their opinions. Anonymous stated that the bigger picture has to be looked at instead of the minute details...but it is the small details that make up the big picture. If all the small stuff is left unchanged then the basis for the big picture is shaken also. The precendence of the funding as the mayor stated has been in place for a while...though no one knows the details. I can speak for the former Mayor because I asked him. He didn't know of such a fund. Sandy you are right on the budget. Councilmembers need to be more prudent in the information of a budget...ABSOLUTELY. For years it appears budgets were done in order to hide things. This item for one, grouped in with Travel and Expense seemingly on the surface ok but when I asked the town manager about what made up the group answers were not given. Thats not to say councilmembers shouldn't have asked also. During the open budget meeting nothing came out about such a fund.
I think the mayor and council work very hard for the modest salary they receive. I have no problem if they all collect expenses due to them. With the proper documentation, without it, it amounts to a pay raise. A set amount of expenses could be budgeted for all to pull from, but again not just one individual. There should be a separate vote on such an item especially since no one wants to commit political suicide by voting themselves a raise or raising taxes for something as road improvements or parks as seen in the last budget.
The budget has been audited for years and nothing seemingly illegal ever appears...that doesn't mean it can't be made better going forward.
Lee wrote:
"I can speak for the former Mayor because I asked him."
I caution you on repeating what was told to you. Feigning ignorance does not erase any prior knowledge; it only gives the perception of an innocence that simply does not exist.
Lee, if you truly care about our town, you will spend more time on research and less time on idle gossip.
We have much to do in our town and we can accomplish more by working together.
I have to apologize about this particular topic. Again, it was not intended to be an attack on the current Mayor, nor did I want to see it degrade to a he said she said type of scenario. Personally, this topic is not about the money as much as it is a way of knowing the expenses the town is incurring. If the expense account exists then fine, it should but with that said the money has to be tracked and should be easily identified in the budget. It should be open to all elected officials to utilize, not just the office of Mayor. Whether someone utilized existing funds or not is off the subject. Such funding I believe, once identified in a line item, then can be voted on by the entire council. Games being played with tax dollars is not right. I say "games" because creative accounting likens the actions to games. We could go on and on about what the Mayor contends is "idol gossip". The dislike the current and former Mayors have for each other is another topic all together. The fact is that the "fund" does and has existed. The current mayor has been funded from such funds. Though it was technically in the budget, you couldn't find it if you wanted to. Only the office of Mayor had access to this funding past and present...future to be determined.
So I posted this subject to voice my concern over apparent lack of proper accounting practices. Whether it is or not, it is my opinion. Having researched the budget for years and asking questions about vague categories I think its time to identify the different expenses better. Nothing against the current Mayor. If the expenses are legit and are valid fine. Pay her all day long. Let's just make sure all have access to expense money not just one particular office.
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