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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From the city proposing a budget with a $14 million deficit, to the United Way still not being held accountable for extorting the sexual data of local children from area nonprofits, to the city attorney openly stating he wants to hide council agendas from the public so they ‘won’t know what‘s on it,’ here’s all the muck that’s fit to print from the Columbus, Georgia area, along with a look at what to expect in the week ahead.
CITY EXPANDS BUDGET TO $336 MILLION; $14 MILLION COMING FROM RESERVES
This story was originally published on June 19, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City council is planning to expand the city’s budget by roughly $14 million more than it plans to bring in through revenue for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year, which begins on July 1 of this year.
Prior to hearings held by city council throughout the month of May, the city had planned to bring in an estimated $322 million in revenue. With a budgetary need of $332 million, that number alone left a deficit of roughly $10 million that the city planned to pull from its reserves to fund the upcoming fiscal year.
Now, after adding additional funding for things like pickleball courts and video games — which by themselves will cost taxpayers $1.8 million from the city’s reserve funds — the total budget proposal from the city now sits at a staggeringly-high total of $336 million.
That’s $14 million more than it projects to bring in.
For context: this is the same exact thing as a household planning to spend — on purpose — nearly 5% more than its total household income.
Each year, the city manager’s office is responsible for preparing a diligent budget capable of responsibly managing the city’s revenue vs. its expenses. Traditionally, though not legally required, the mayor works closely with the city manager to prepare that budget — though it is the city manager’s sole responsibility to prepare and manage it; hence the name city manager.
When the city’s original budget was presented to the Budget Review Committee by finance director Angelica Alexander on May 2 of this year, the city manager’s budget proposal projected the following deficit to already exist:
As shown above — from the very beginning — the city manager had purposefully planned to spend roughly $10.5 million more than what the city planned to bring in. Let’s say that again for crystal clear clarity: the city’s original budget plan — as prepared by city manager Isaiah Hugley, on purpose — was to pull $10.5 million from the city’s reserve funds so it could spend millions more than it planned to bring in.
That increased budget set aside tens of millions of dollars for programs and special interest projects that have demonstrated very little positive return on investment as the city continues to spiral downward into a state of urban decay.
While Hugley himself has continued to erroneously blame the ‘pandemic’ for the state of the city, the failure of his 18-year-long agenda can clearly be seen by putting a ruler to the side of the city’s constant decline for the past several decades.
We’re not so sure that we’d consider that responsible management.
Nonetheless, Hugley’s own proposed budget planned to spend $10.5 million more than what he himself projected the city to bring in throughout the upcoming year.
Explore the full story to see how city officials are now planning to draw over $14 million from the city’s reserve funds to make up the difference, all while raising an additional $10 million off the backs of taxpayers.
CITY’S PERSONNEL EXPENSES INCREASE $16 MILLION DESPITE STAFFING SHORTAGE
This story was originally published on June 20, 2023
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Columbus Consolidated Government’s proposed budget for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year includes a $16 million increase in personnel expenses compared to the year before.
The increase comes amid the city’s continued staffing shortage.
Back in June of 2022, the city approved last year’s budget for the current fiscal year. That budget included a total of $174 million in personnel expenses, which accounted for 54.6% of the city’s entire budget.
Now, the city manager’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year contains a bloated total of more than $190 million in personnel expenses, which now accounts for 57% of the city’s entire budget — despite the severe staffing shortages that city manager Isaiah Hugley has constantly reminded everyone about.
Explore the full story to see the side-by-side comparison of how Hugley’s unbalanced budget managed to bloat the city’s payroll expenses to 57% of the city’s entire overall budget.
UNITED WAY FORCING COLUMBUS NON-PROFITS TO ASK LOCAL KIDS ABOUT SEXUALITY OR LOSE FUNDING
This story was originally published on June 13, 2023 and republished on June 21, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The local United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley is forcing local non-profits to either collect data on the sexuality of local children or lose their already-approved grant funding.
The absolutely outlandish data requirement was not part of the non-profits’ already-approved funding agreements with the United Way.
Many large non-profits who receive funding from the local United Way are now voicing serious legal and moral concerns about the United Way’s extortionary request.
To be absolutely clear: the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, under the direction of Ben Moser, President; and Erika Cottingham, CFO/COO; is requiring post factum that large area non-profit organizations must now provide UW with data on the sexuality of the minor children their organizations serve, or else they will pull their funding entirely.
Several employees from several large area non-profits have since reached out to the Muckraker expressing the insanity of the United Way’s demand.
Explore the full story for the insane details of how the United Way now demands the sexual data on local children or they will pull their funding.
CITY COUNCILORS DELAY VOTE ON PROPERTY TAX RATE AND CITY BUDGET
This story was originally published on June 22, 2023.
Residents may voice their concerns on how the city’s proposed budget of $336 million now exceeds its projected income of just $322 million and will require $14 million from reserves while simultaneously garnering $10 million more in property taxes by contacting their respective city council members.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City councilors have moved in unison to purposefully delay their votes on both the city’s proposed property tax increase and the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The proposed budget is currently unbalanced and carries a deficit of nearly $14 million being drawn from the city’s reserves, all while the proposed property tax increase was projected to pick $10 million from the pockets of residents.
In a rare display of diligence and responsibility, city council members chose to not merely bend with the wind but to instead delay their votes on both items until the end of the month. The purposeful delay now allows councilors the absolute maximum amount of time to further research the topics and gain the insights needed to make what they believe will be the best decision for the city.
Whether those decisions will alleviate the tax burdens placed on residents has yet to be seen.
Should council choose not to roll back the property tax millage rate, thousands throughout the city will likely have their rents increased as a result of their landlord’s skyrocketing tax bills. Despite many landlords speaking at length during the three required public hearings held by city council on the topic, city council has yet to come to a consensus.
Explore the full story to see how councilors moved in unison to push the vote forward instead of merely blowing with the wind.
CITY ATTORNEY WANTS TO HIDE COUNCIL AGENDA FROM PUBLIC SO ‘THEY WON’T KNOW WHAT’S ON IT’
This story was originally published on June 23, 2023.
Residents may voice their concerns regarding the statements made by Columbus City Attorney Clifton Fay by easily filing an Open Government Complaint with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City attorney Clifton Fay openly admitted that he intends to hide city council’s agenda from the general public so that residents will not know what their city council is doing until it’s too late for them to do anything about it.
During the city council meeting on June 13, Fay specifically stated he did not want to make council’s agenda public until the end of the day on Fridays: just one business day before council meetings occur.
To make matters worse and remove all doubt, Fay went on to openly specify that his intent was to prevent residents and the media from being able to contact their elected officials to voice their concerns prior to actionable meetings taking place, as well as to prevent other questioning of government by the public through things like the filing of open records requests.
In short: City Attorney Clifton Fay doesn’t want the public muddying up the CCG Deep State’s bureaucracy by being able to freely participate in their own city’s representative government.
How liberating of you, Clifton.
Explore the full story to see how Clifton Fay doesn’t want peasant plebes like you and us to question our city’s government, despite state laws specifically preventing Fay’s censored intent.
CCG DEBATES BUDGET; BUYS BRAND NEW 2024 GMC TRUCK FOR $56K AT SAME MEETING
This story was originally published on June 24, 2023.
Residents may voice their concerns about the city’s irresponsible approach to spending — such as the purchase of brand new vehicles while simultaneously proposing a budget with a $14 million deficit — by contacting their respective city council members.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife.” — Thomas Jefferson.
In a primary example of why good intentions do not matter if the effects remain the same, city officials spent nearly two hours debating how increased property taxes would affect CCG’s income, but then immediately turned around and announced the purchase of a brand new 2024 GMC truck.
The fresh-off-the-lot, mint condition, brand new, 2024 year-model truck just cost taxpayers $56,378.00.
During the city council meeting held on June 20, 2023, city councilors spent nearly two hours debating the proposed property tax increase and the $10 million in revenue it is projected to bring in for the city. Councilors were particularly interested in how lowering the millage rate would of course eliminate that $10 million in revenue from the city’s proposed budget.
However, immediately after the two-hour long discussion, city officials turned around and announced that they had just purchased a brand spankin’ new 2024 GMC Sierra 2500HD — a pretty expensive pickup truck — for the Public Works Department.
To top it all off, the truck wasn’t even purchased from a local dealer here in Columbus, but rather from Glenn Smith Chevrolet in Opelika, Ala.
Apparently the Public Works department needed a brand new current- year-model loaded truck so badly that they had to spend $56k across state lines to get it. It must have truly been a life or death situation, and a previous-year model from a local Columbus dealership certainly would have wreaked havoc on such a dangerous emergency. Please.
Explore the full story to see how your city government is running a $14 million deficit while spending your money on brand new toys instead of more sensible purchases.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Columbus City Council is scheduled to hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, June 27 at 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center located at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
We would link the full agenda for the meeting here — however, City Attorney Clifton Fay recently stated that he wants to purposefully hide the city council’s agendas from the public so that peasant plebes like you and us “won’t know what’s on them.”
For those readers who would like to help remind our city attorney of the requirements of Georgia Code §50-14-1.e.1 — otherwise known as the Georgia Open Meetings Act — you can easily file an Open Government Complaint with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
The council is expected to vote on several items of significance during the meeting to include the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Some of the items council is expected to vote on include:
A Look At Personal Safety
As the Columbus Police Department continues to unify under its new leadership model, violent crime is still likely to exist at higher levels than we would all like — even in what have previously been thought of as the “safer parts” of our city.
We at the Muckraker want to encourage our readers and their loved ones to remain hyper-vigilant as they go about their daily lives.
Based on lifetimes of experience and the combined professional careers of us at the Muckraker and our associates, here are what we consider to be the most important ways Columbusites can make themselves “hard targets” to avoid becoming a crime victim:
Back Our Blue
In closing, we at the Muckraker would like to thank the outstanding men and women of the Columbus Police Department who continue to shell out for the safety and well-being of our city each and every day, despite the abhorrent temporary conditions they are currently forced to work within.
“All police officers are entitled to outstanding leadership.”
Our city cannot thank you enough for what you do for us.
If you’re out and about throughout the week and see one of our city’s brave and valiant police officers, be sure to thank them. We’d bet it would mean an awful lot to them.
Residents are strongly encouraged to express their concerns and condolences for the brave men and women of the Columbus Police Department by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.
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