amendment. The motion was voted and carried. A copy is hereby incorporated into the minutes.? The people have no Idea how their money is allocated?
I really believed that the Board of Commissioner was becoming for transparent about a Year ago, however, I was wrong. There is not accountability. There are no Line-Items for spending. I.e. Notice the items in the 2015-16 Budget Ordinance I highlighted in red in the How was the money spent?
This is how The town officials make it difficult to locate the Budget, and when you locate the Budgets it really does not tell you how they are spending the Citizen's money in each Department? Transparency is when the Town of Littleton has a Tab labeled "BUDGETS" posted on the Towns Offical Website so the public can see how the town officials are spending the taxpayers money. When they go to the Budgets Tab they can see how every penny is spent by Mayor and the Commissioner's that work for the Citizens. This is what the public has to go through to see the Town Budgets, and when they do find it, it does not tell how they are spending the money in each department and other areas?
To locate the Annual Budget I had to do a search by entering "Budget" That took me to a page that began with "Administration' which was a Job Description, and qualifications of the Town Clerk. Then was Finance Officer, again a Job Description and qualifications for the Finance Officer, Thus: Town Clerk/Finance Officer,
Then a picture of the Town Hall Lobby. Then came Government
Government / Town Board that was about The Town of Littleton and the Mayor/Council form of municipal government. Finally came:
View the Town Charter here
View the Town Ordinances here
View the current Budget Ordinance here.
So I Clicked Budget Ordinance and on the bottom of the page came:
Budget Ordinance
2015-16 Budget Ordinance [10k]
2014-15 Budget Ordinance [105k]
2013-14 Budget Ordinance [11k]
Look how few bytes were used to type a Town Budget for a Year?
I went to the 2015-16 Budget Ordinance [10k] and with all the normal spacing takes up a total of two and a half pages. However, if you take out all the extra wording it comes to only one and a half pages.
To find the Town of Littleton 2015-2016 Budget you have to go to (Forms/Documents), click (Ordinances).Then at the top of the page under Ordinances you will see:
Code of Ordinances Zoning Ordinance Subdivisions Regulations Budget Ordinance
Click Budget Ordinance and at the bottom of the page and you will see 3 Annual Budget Ordinance. Click 2015-16 Budget Ordinance [10k]
2015-16 Budget Ordinance [10k]
2014-15 Budget Ordinance [105k]
2013-14 Budget Ordinance [11k]
Can you believe that The Mayor and The Commissioners that work for the citizens of the Town of Littleton, that spend the people's money make it so hard to locate the Budget to see how they are are spending their money However, when you get to the budgets you will only see an overview amount for each department, but you will not see how they are spending your money in each department. This is a typical Town of Littleton 1 1/2 page Annual Budge Below:
BUDGET ORDINANCE FY 2015-16 TOWN OF LITTLETON (O-15-001)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Littleton, North Carolina:
Section 1: The following amounts are hereby appropriated in the General Fund for the operation of
the town government and its activities for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016,
in accordance with the chart of accounts heretofore established for this Town.
Government Body $29,910.00
Reserve for Beautification 2,500.00
Administration 70,035.00
Buildings 21,062.00
USDA Loan – Annual Payments 3,514.00
Police 188,350.00
Fire Department 10,000.00
Streets 53,048.00
Powell Bill 105,000.00
Library 13,000.00
Cemetery 8,095.00
$504,514.00
Section 2: It is estimated that the following revenues will be available in the General Fund for the
fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016.
Current year’s real property taxes $220,000.00
Prior year’s property taxes 3,000.00
Motor vehicle taxes 25,000.00
Penalty and interest on real property taxes 850.00
Sales taxes 76,420.00
Powell Bill Funds 25,000.00
Powell Bill Fund Balance 105,000.00
Utility Franchise 38,000.00
Reserve for Beautification 2,500.00
Other revenues 33,744.00
$504,514.00
Section 3: The following amounts are hereby appropriated in the Water and Sewer Fund for the
operation of the water and sewer utilities and sanitation for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and
ending June 30, 2016, in accordance with the chart of accounts heretofore approved for the Town.
Water operations department $166,775.00
Sewer operations department 176,401.00
ARRA Loan Annual Payment 3,593.00
USDA Loan – Annual Payments 3,514.00
Capital Outlay – Jet Vac 7,510.00
Capital Outlay – building 9,850.00
Debt service Bond Principal 14,000.00
Bond Interest 12,975.00
$394,618.00
Section 4: It is estimated that the following revenues will be available in the Water and Sewer
Fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016.
Availability Fee $36,480.00
Water usage charges 189,000.00
Sewer usage charges 146,000.00
Interest on investments 35.00
Other revenues 23,138.00
$394,618.00
Section 5: There is hereby levied a tax at the rate of Eighty cents ($0.80) per one hundred dollars ($100.00)
valuation of property listed as of January 1, 2016.
Adopted this 1st day of June, 2015. ______________
As an example how did they spend your money in Government Body $29,910.00???
Town of Warrenton
I shared with her that If Commissioner Sylvia Alston did not apologise to her next door neighbour Marlene Melvin, (with a disability of deafness) for intimidating and harassing her for several Months, I would return to being a public advocate for the people in the Town of Littleton and start writing the dark truth and failures of the Mayor's and Commissioner's.
Commissioner Sylvia Alston did not apologise and that is why I'm sharing everything about the Elected Officials that chose to bury their secrets buried behind a tree, where no one can see. Commissioner Sylvia Alston continued to insist that Marlene to move her car to the other side of her house so she has more room for her kids to park. see Photo Below:
Commissioner Sylvia Alston's Abuse of a Citizen with a disability, and her personal used of Town Property
http://townoflittletonforthepeoplenewsfiles.blogspot.com/2016/01/commissioner-sylvia-alston-harassment.html
When a complaint was taken under advisement at the work session with the Mayor and the Board of Commissioners they could do nothing about the property and expressed no concerns about Commissioner Sylvia Alston's unethical behavior. In Fact, Sylvia Alston was involved in the work session that was about her improper behavior and there is no record she excused herself from the unified decision by the Mayor or the Board of Commissioners. They all had no problem with the unethical and improper behavior of a Member of Their Board.
http://www.townoflittleton-nc.us/minutes/2016/toltm20160119.pdf
November - December 2015 Issue I-2
Commissioner Sylvia Alston Harassment of a Town Resident
January 2016 Commissioner Sylvia Alston Inappropriate Behaviors -Issue 3-4
2016-17 Proposed Budget Ordinance
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Detail of proposed budget
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