The Mount Vernon City Council has approved adjustments to appropriations within the Probation Department, allowing it to allocate $195,000 in grant funding within a two-week timeframe. This decision was made to ensure that the funds would not be forfeited.
"Probation ran into some trouble because they had planned on a lot of this money going toward a certain employee. The employee left, and maybe they didn't adjust as quickly as they might have," said Auditor Daniel Brinkman during the city council meeting on June 9, as per the meeting video.
Brinkman also mentioned that one of the final line items in the adjustments pertained to the police department's towing expenses. This adjustment aims to prevent further increases as additional funds are received.
Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers explained that related legislation is intended to rectify issues with grant funding, preventing recurring cycles of adjustments. The city currently manages the probation grant through its General Fund, but its policy dictates that perpetual grants should be managed in a non-general fund to avoid mixing funds. The new legislation addresses this issue for budget management.
Brinkman further noted that the legislation establishes a Municipal Facilities Improvement Fund to manage resources for a new police station and handle grant funds already received by the city. He emphasized the need for increased appropriations on both revenue and expense sides to utilize these grant monies before their deadline expires.
Salyers added that there had been discussions about untangling what he described as the "spaghetti plate" of internal accounting. Conversations with City Engineer centered around finding innovative ways to distinguish between different funding sources, such as those for projects like Fairgrounds Road and those used internally for city operations. Establishing a Municipal Facilities Infrastructure Fund was identified as one method to separate these revenues and expenditures effectively.
