Snellville has approved a $9.6 million budget that drew concerns from Mayor Kelly Kautz and the city controller about potentially exposing the city to a possible investigation over improper financial practices.
The city's budget for fiscal year 2013, which started Sunday, was approved by Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts and three other council members who have regularly sided against Kautz since they all took office in November. The final budget, which was approved Friday night, came in about $500,000 less than the $10.1 million spending plan submitted by Kautz and the city staff.
Much of the difference between the budgets came from the council-approved removal of $426,000 targeted for a road project through the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI), which awards planning grants. Witts said he didn't include those funds because he believed Snellville should pay for that project with money — $1.7 million — received from Gwinnett County in March as part of a settlement over the cost of services.
"We're taking that money out of our surplus," Witts said. "I don't feel that we should pass that cost [of the LCI project] on to our citizens."
Jan Burke, the city's controller, told the council that she could not support the amended budget. She said the exclusion of the LCI funds and $16,900 for repairs to Lakeside Pavilion could be considered a "material misstatement."
"They have to be budgeted," Burke said. "Someone from the outside looking at our budget ... that would alter their opinion of our budget."
Councilman Dave Emanuel, who supported Witts' budget, said if that was true, then city staff should bear some of the responsibility for any potential audits.
"It's staff's job to take what council proposes and put it in a form that meets accounting and governmental standards," he said. "If there are material misrepresentations, that is a function of staff not doing its job properly."
Friday night's fight over the budget was the latest chapter in a City Council conflict dating back to when Kautz narrowly was elected over a Witts-backed candidate in November. Many of Kautz's appointments and proposals have met resistance from the council, which includes three other members who supported her opponent in the election.
Running a few minutes late to the specially called meeting, Kautz burst through a side door into the council chambers and arrived in time to thwart an attempt to vote down her budget proposal. But Kautz's dramatic entrance only delayed the inevitable, as the four-member council bloc successfully passed their amended version.
Kautz, who said she was in City Hall working on a budget presentation for the meeting, said the dissension among council members has crept into discussions with candidates for the open city manager position.
And Councilman Mike Sabbagh, who sides with Kautz on most issues, called Friday's meeting "a disservice to the community. This is a budget that will get challenged."
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