Citizens Demand Accounting of City's User Fee
The people who are required to pay the City of Huntington's User Fee must have transparency and accountability in order to have a sense of trust in our local government. Here is how I see it.
Issue #1: The City of Huntington City Council is considering new Mayor Kim Wolfe's budget request for an increase in the City's $2 per week User Fee to $3 per week. The fee is collected from anyone working within the city of Huntington.
Issue #2: The public has lost trust in the City's administration and the City Council, because the City has never accounted for every expenditure of funds coming from the User Fee. It is obvious to everyone that the areas of public safety and streets have not fully benefited, as stipulated in the ordinance creating the User Fee.
#Issue #3: The City of Huntington cannot operate without adequate funds for providing public services. Citizens realize that, but they want to know where every penny is being spent, as promised.
Solution: Modify the User Fee ordinance to dictate that every last cent of funds coming from the $3 per week User Fee be placed in an Enterprise Fund (in and out accounting) and restricted to expenditures for public safety; street-paving, repairs and cleaning; curb and gutter maintenance; and, last but not least, pavement graphics and signage for traffic control and safety.
Transparency: Within ten (10) days of the closing of each month's accounting period a detailed copy of the "User Fee Enterprise Fund" must be published in the Herald-Dispatch newspaper. Each month's itemized, and chronological, income and expenditures of the fund would be clearly presented in this required publication. The citizens who pay into the fund would be able to "track" their investment, and the public trust would improve dramatically.
The days of the City of Huntington operating without any accountability to the public it serves should end. Accounting records should be readily made available on a monthly basis by publishing monthly profit and loss figures in the newspaper for each city department.
The folks who are required to pay the City's User Fee merely want transparency and accountability - and to be able to trust their government. Why not give it to them?
As Cicero said, "The welfare of the people is the highest law."
Issue #1: The City of Huntington City Council is considering new Mayor Kim Wolfe's budget request for an increase in the City's $2 per week User Fee to $3 per week. The fee is collected from anyone working within the city of Huntington.
Issue #2: The public has lost trust in the City's administration and the City Council, because the City has never accounted for every expenditure of funds coming from the User Fee. It is obvious to everyone that the areas of public safety and streets have not fully benefited, as stipulated in the ordinance creating the User Fee.
#Issue #3: The City of Huntington cannot operate without adequate funds for providing public services. Citizens realize that, but they want to know where every penny is being spent, as promised.
Solution: Modify the User Fee ordinance to dictate that every last cent of funds coming from the $3 per week User Fee be placed in an Enterprise Fund (in and out accounting) and restricted to expenditures for public safety; street-paving, repairs and cleaning; curb and gutter maintenance; and, last but not least, pavement graphics and signage for traffic control and safety.
Transparency: Within ten (10) days of the closing of each month's accounting period a detailed copy of the "User Fee Enterprise Fund" must be published in the Herald-Dispatch newspaper. Each month's itemized, and chronological, income and expenditures of the fund would be clearly presented in this required publication. The citizens who pay into the fund would be able to "track" their investment, and the public trust would improve dramatically.
The days of the City of Huntington operating without any accountability to the public it serves should end. Accounting records should be readily made available on a monthly basis by publishing monthly profit and loss figures in the newspaper for each city department.
The folks who are required to pay the City's User Fee merely want transparency and accountability - and to be able to trust their government. Why not give it to them?
As Cicero said, "The welfare of the people is the highest law."
posted C. Richard Cobb, Sr. @7:26 AM 
