Budgets, BBI and More B.S.

I didn't attend the special called meeting on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 because I was told that it was for a budget workshop; therefore the information contained in this post is based on a conversation I had with a citizen that attended the meeting. When it comes to budgets, this board does not have a clue. One of the first rules for planning a budget is only include the money you have and the representatives of the City of Lumberton do not seem to think this matters. According to one source, the projected amount of money the City of Lumberton is expected to receive from the county has dropped from over $2 million dollars to somewhere around $800,000. She told me that she couldn't remember the exact amount, but the correct figures will be in Sunday's paper. That's a big decrease in revenue. How is the City of Lumberton planning on covering this shortfall? The next logical step would be a drastic cut in spending, which would include a purging of the city's payroll, an increase in the millage or a combination of both. But from the conversation I had, the City of Lumberton has no plans to do any of the things I just listed. Apparently, they're planning on clicking their ruby slippers and keep saying to themselves "There's no place like home" and hope the Wizard of Oz will grant them their wishes to cover the gaps in the budget.
There was talk of continued issues with BBI. I was told that a report was presented to the aldermen that had several errors. Somehow, one portion of the budget had incorrect calculations, but the other parts were supposed to be correct. How could this happen? Apparently, BBI is at fault for these errors. How many more years are we going to tolerate this excuse? Computers don't make errors, people do; computers can only calculate and process the information that is provided and if there are errors it is based on the information that was logged into the system. Errors and excuses. At first, everything was blamed on JoAnn, and then it was blamed on Leonette and later all the blame was placed on Betty. Now that there's no one left, the blame is being placed on BBI. True to form, this board is willing to throw away over $100,000 in software, updates, and training to get a new system because no one in the office wants to accept responsibility for not being able to properly prepare a budget. So, what are they going to do when we're at this point again next year, after shelling out more money for a new program, new computers and even more training? I wish I knew why Bobby Gibson and Rebecca Hale are so adamant about financially tying the hands of City of Lumberton. I know they're not selling out city for free water and GAP insurance. What are your thoughts on this matter?