Pamplico Town Council has received an audit report showing a negative unrestricted fund balance of $144,241 that should be corrected by making more money or unrestricting assets, certified public accountant Monica Richardson said.
Council on Tuesday also unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance to ban the wearing of sagging pants, which would become a misdemeanor in the town if given final approval next month.
“It’s ridiculous. ... This is a first step toward getting something done about it,” Mayor Pro Tem Lucius Eaddy said.
During the audit report, Mayor Gene Gainey said the town is taking steps to fix the unrestricted fund balance.
For example, he said, Pamplico will collect a fuel surcharge for garbage collection, which received final approval Tuesday, to recoup additional fees imposed by Waste Management, the company that collects the town’s trash.
The company is also imposing a 5.5 percent Consumer Price Index increase for trash collection, which equals about 66 cents per roll cart, councilman Thomas Benton said.
In addition, the town hopes to conserve money and fuel by such measures as asking police officers to shut off their cars and walk for at least an hour of their shifts, Gainey said.
In the past fiscal year, Pamplico had $273,054 in its general fund balance, which translates to net assets of $630,438 when adjusted by such items as capital assets, accumulated depreciation, notes payable and compensated absences, according to the audit report.
The town ran a $57,070 operating loss during the previous year. Its total nonoperating revenues were more than $3 million, the result of one-time grants and not operating income, Richardson said.
She also encouraged the town to keep 60 to 90 days’ worth of operating revenues. It has 147 days’ worth of money for governmental activities, but is 138 days short in business-type activity funds.
Gainey said that “cushion” of money can help the town get through the end of the year, as revenues dry up while the town waits for tax collections to arrive.
In other business, town officials have agreed to transfer the title of a truck to Pamplico’s rescue squad and ambulance service, which operates as a nonprofit. Rescue squad officials say their organization bought the truck, which holds extrication devices and other equipment, and that the squad needs the truck on its insurance policy to maintain that policy.
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