PERKINS MOVES CITY'S GENERAL FUND INEXORABLY TOWARD BANKRUPTCY
5-29-08
Our opinion is that Mayor Perkins is moving the city's General Fund toward bankruptcy before the end of the fiscal year. Through the first seven months of the fiscal year (October-April), SALES TAX REVENUES ARE DOWN $157,000.OO compared to the same period last fiscal year. Sales Tax Revenues were down $109,000 in the month of April alone compared to April, 2007. More telling about how Perkins is ruining retail sales in Selma is that COMPARED TO THE SAME PERIOD two years ago, SALES TAX REVENUES ARE DOWN ALMOST $300,000 this fiscal year.
What is significant about this? Sales tax revenues make up MORE THAN 60% of the city's General Fund Revenues! The most recent statement given to City Council members showed an unrestricted cash reserve of $2.4 million in the City's General Fund. This amount includes the $742,000 recently appropriated for the police department. THE GENERAL FUND WILL NOT REMAIN SOLVENT if it only has a surplus of $1.7 today to carry the city to the end of the fiscal year, September 30. Expenses always are more than income in the last five months of a fiscal year. $1.7 million will not begin to make up the deficit in the General Fund.
Unless there is some hanky-panky by Perkins in moving money from other funds into the city's unrestricted General Fund, we believe the General Fund will soon be solvent. We are calling on all councilmen to watch carefully the financial statements given out each month and see the money which may appear in the unrestricted cash reserve for the General Fund. While facing this dilemma, Perkins is still trying to get the council to spend $250,000 for a curb and gutter machine and $335,000 for more technology in city hall. The $335,000 expenditure from the cash reserve will assure the bankruptcy of the fund by the summer's end. Of course, Crenshaw, Leashore, Venter and Randolph don't seem to care what the city's financial condition is as long as their master wants to spend money. If ever there were 4 useless people on a city governing body, the Crenshaw 4 are the 4!
This whole matter points out HOW PERKINS HAS NEGLECTED THE RETAIL SALES AREA IN SELMA AND HOW HE HAS NO IDEA HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM. He is too busy with pie in the sky ideas, trips to Washington, in Birmingham at least 2 days most of the week (Tuesday and Friday), and generally does nothing to help retail and existing businesses in Selma. We do not believe Selma can survive 4 more years with Perkins as Mayor. We know many retail businesses in the city cannot survive with him as Mayor. While Selma becomes poorer and poorer, his only solution to increase city revenues, together with his cronies Leashore and Crenshaw, is TO RAISE PROPERTY TAXES - THE VERY WORST THING A GOVERNMENT CAN DO DURING A TIME OF DEPRESSED ECONOMY!!!
We pray that the voters of Selma have had enough of his lack of leadership and that of his four puppets and will vote accordingly on August 26!
