e e e e e e e e e e e e e IED Al to United States of Amer how do we do the roll call just Maryanne here barbar's here Michael's here Brian's here and Scott stord Stafford and Joe and Jack Lon in attendants and that's um I have this on is this yeah okay that's Deb dton on online for zoom and I think you also have to vote to allow her to participate officially bring your mic closer okay ready um approve all the minutes first first you have to we have to vote attending by Zoom oh got approve all the minutes no we still approving her yeah you're approve approving Deb dunon to join via zoom and participate in the meeting via Zoom I'll move that second okay thanks any move I second and M and Michael Su Barbara V yeah puffer yeah now we're voted Michael how her second through the minutes we're still on her we're still on Deb dton yeah we move to let Deb Dutton the meeting I move to make Deb Dutton into the meeting anybody like to Second thank you is that good enough then you just have to vote say say I I I when you say seen no opposition motion carries seeing no opposition the motion carries to allow her VI in thanks where do we go next now you can do the no approval of the minutes are we moving on okay y okay nobody here they do a public comments right for you you would need to ask for approval of the minutes I I can't I can't ask for approval of the minutes approval of the minutes oh oh I thought okay let's approval of the minutes yes I second that or motion Barbara and Michael's yes yeah okay Michael second it okay it's a comedy show okay this is all new so if you do one I'll do the other okay exactly well you would ask are there does anyone have any changes or are they approved as I can't understand you would ask does anybody have any changes or are they approved as does anybody have any questions or exceptions to the minutes no none we noted okay then ask um all those in favor say all those in favor I I I okay well and there's no no people here so there's no public comment items for disc discussion the finance director report good good morning everyone um Joe ANUK Finance director Fort Meers Beach um I within my um Finance director's report I do I just wanted to go through this as quickly as possible for you you have the written copy in front of you I wanted to give you an update on the status of the procurement of the new accounting system I did reach out to Santa bille Island and to Bonita Springs and I did learn that they use the same system that I had actually used um in King County and then actually our our accounting manager also used it in the same position that she came from um back in Illinois as well so everyone is pleased with that system I presented the list of the requirements that we reviewed at our last meeting to our director of compliance and operations Frankie katek who is also the procurement manager and he is reaching out to to that company as well as to a few others that we've heard from who have been soliciting our our business so that we can get some um competitive quotes and and comparisons of to be able to compare the systems and to see which would best meet our requirements so he's in the process of doing that um the the fiscal year 2023 audit is still on schedule to begin the audit field workor in sometime in April we don't have an exact date yet but that's coming up and we've been working to prepare for that um something that's been an ongoing project has been the review and the allocation of all of the emergency expenditures that we incurred during 2023 and since um on on into 2024 I'm trying to link those to the FEMA reimbursable Public Works projects um one of the um the complications in this is that we're incurring expenditures faster then we're moving along with FEMA in identifying the projects in getting them in the pipeline and getting um projects obligated so we have the expenses incurred but we don't have all the projects identified we're getting closer we have a list of 27 different projects and Title Basin is helping us with um with the scope and some of the work involved um is FEMA coming out to do site inspections and that is very tedious depending on what they're inspecting um it's very thorough so I'm very impressed with how thorough everything is but that that is part of why this is taking so long so we we're we're moving along in title Bas and meets with with them um we have a FEMA representative who comes out weekly sometimes twice a week um and he's very um concerned in doing his best to help the town and even in in redoing things that um as assessments are coming back from FEMA we're noticing that things were missed in the original site inspection so just for example they came out um a couple days ago to reinspect the pool because so much was missed in their initial site inspection so hopefully then um their assessment and the reimbursement will get back will be much higher than the original um amount that they proposed uh let's see um as of February 29th we received $16 million of FEMA reimbursements and about $9.5 million of insurance proceeds um since the hurricane so that totals about $25.5 million and we've had emergency expenditures of 24.8 million so we're just barely keeping ahead in terms of reimbursement with our expenditures so cash flow is is very um tight and it's important to keep um up on top of that I provided with um the same it's basically the same list of available funding sources with a few updates to it so we still have the $6.7 million Capital improvement loan that was originally awarded um from the bank for those those three projects Bayside Park Bay Oaks Recreational fac facility in Times Square and this was before the hurricane can so there is some work that can be done with those projects but it's doubtful that they'll be um in time before the loan expires May 1st uh but there is maybe a small amount we can get reimbursement for um but then then the once the loan is expires that the deadline passes and we'll not be able to take advantage let me think um there I'm trying to remember the I think it was a originally $10 million loan so we've already used $3.3 million of it but that was mostly prior to the hurricane so it was some improvements that were done for um Time Square for the Bayside park that's actually what paid for Bayside Park the first time around um and then um the BOS Recreational facility some improvements had already started there uh we did receive um $7.8 million that's like a brand new award from the Federal Department of Emergency Management and that is for the um Turtle safe Street lighting project um that this has been in the works for years um and that is the exact amount that fpnl will be charging us um to install all of that lighting and so we've given them their first installment um also on February 29th we did receive the $5 million 0% interest loan that was awarded by the Federal Department of Emergency Management and that was received on February 28th so we do have it in the bank now we're just reaching out to them to get more specifics as to what is the process or the procedure for using those funds but otherwise the intention is to have those funds on hand so that we can use them towards these FEMA Public Works projects um and for those initial expenditures while we're waiting for reimbursement from FEMA and when we are reimbursed from FEMA the reimbursement is what will repay the loan so we don't have to worry about um any payment schedule it's they'll be reimbursed when FEMA reimburses us there is an $8 million loan or not a loan a grant from um a state funded grant for Beach Tre nourishment that we receed the award but not the actual funding and that should be be coming in every any day now there is an older grant that we received from the Federal Department of Environmental Protection I'm sorry Florida Department of Environmental Protection this is $1 million for the Bay Oaks Recreational campus it expires the end of this year and there was it requires a $1 million match and so just this last Town council meeting there was an approval to use $1 million of the arpa funds for that match so that we can proceed and doing the development of um the ball fields the pickle bow courts tennis courts basketball court all of the outdoor recreational facilities that were originally planned can now move forward and hopefully be completed by the end of the year with um with that Grant and with the arpa funds um and then there's really no change that I'm aware of with anything regarding the um storm water um project we still have the $10 million Grant the $500,000 um Grant from um FD and then we have a smaller one that's related to um for 536 that was for a very specific portion of the tier one project and we do have the $7.5 million still available in the state revolving Loan program and so all of that is what's available to be used towards the storm water project um the $1.9 million bridge loan that we received um last summer um the end of June That was supposed to uh originally was the the concept was to be there for us to utilize um due to our lost revenues and so we anticipated that $3.5 million would would be U missing from our normal Revenue stream in 2023 and so we budgeted to use $3.5 million of that loan in 200 um I'm sorry I Ed the wrong year 2024 so the budget year 2024 has $3.5 million included in in the budget but we're there's been mixed feelings as to whether we should utilize that loan so we we're trying not to so we haven't actually transferred anything out of that fund yet and so far um our revenues are on par with budget but part of that is because we get most of our property tax revenue at the beginning of the year and so it it we are doing okay so far but as we progress into the year we may start to see um a decline in Revenue in which case then we would probably use some of the proceeds from that loan what's the origination of the loan who who extended the loan This was um from the state of Florida okay and there is a 10% interest that it's it's 0% throughout the first year and then it at beginning July 1st there's a 10% interest on any outstanding balance so that's was one of the reasons why we were hesitant to use it we wanted to make sure we could repay it but since then there has been legislation um extending the loan for 10 years but we have not yet received any document official documentation to that effect we just aware of that legislation that was approved um and there's talk of it being um forgiven completely but again we we don't have any official documentation yet to that effect um and then the last thing I wanted to just talk about is a $36 million of arpa funds the American Rescue plan um funding that we the town received D um and just to give you an idea of how it's been planned to use so far so 8 126,000 of it was budgeted to be used to cover an increase in general fund expenses for 2024 um we did that because theoretically the bridge loan that we received was not intended to be used for increased expenditures but rather lost revenues so in order to fund the increase in expenditures we were using the $826,000 of the arpa funds there was also um $ 328,000 to be a match for an emergency Grant and I failed to make a note as to what that was for I believe that has to do with um actually this would have to do with um our port of the expense to cover the emergency Town temporary town hall is what that would be so that is what that $328,000 is intended to be used for this year um and then there's $165,000 to cover the town's portion for a beach renourishment grant that we received from Lee County so that that covers Those portions of the arpa funds and now we just approve the $1 million to cover um that match for the Bay Oaks Recreational campus um for the grant that we're receiving there so that leaves $1.2 million that's available and we have until the end of this this calendar year to um obligate the remainer of this so this is where it's kind of up in the air depending on what projects will be um determined that can be completed by the end of the year um in of course according to town council's direction as these projects are identified and it will depend on their approval to use the funding but we have 1.2 million available at this point nice so we can use a grant to to support another Grant financially yes yes in this case with with the ARA funds we can do that uh Utility Billing I just wanted to put that in there because we as the finance department we've been concerned about some things what's been happening is there's a large accounts receivable balance that is growing um there's $561,000 of a balance that are um significantly behind and this is related to storm water fees to uh fees on property that maybe are abandoned or we we don't know the story behind all of them at this point but that that is what needs to be looked into we had a meeting with the um the utility director this week and so he's working with um the the billing team to look into uh each of these balances to determine you know what the situation is and um per my suggestion I we're we're trying to then get a sense of how would you categorize the issues is is it because the the person is unreachable is it because they're refusing to pay was there um some is there some problem where they overcharge because of a water leak so whatever the situation is you want to separate them out and then deal with each one appropriately and some of it may involve um granting forgiveness in which case we would probably bring that to the Town Council for that policy decision so we we may have to also consider that depending on the circumstances there's also $20,000 of unapplied payments which means it's money that was collected by the town but it wasn't um specifically to a specific uh balance that was due at the time and so we're trying to identify what caused that and how that how that can be applied and some of that may actually end up needing to be refunded to people if that's turns out to be the case so there's a variety of issues that are all tangled in in this and you know a lot of it has to do with the the hurricane and the impact of it um and I think people were hesitant to um pursue anything until people had a chance to um to get their own lives back in order and to get a handle on things but but now we're we're starting to look into that because we purchase our water from Lee County yes we do right so I'm curious on the pre hurricane to today how did the metrics look on the water because I know there was that's a that's a great Revenue source for the town right it is um I I don't have that specific but I I can find that out for you and and get back to you on that so comparison between how we're doing now basis pre hurricane yeah because on the water we buy it from Lee County as a town and then we Arbitrage it net net net it's a big at least historically it was a big piece of our Revenue so we're overpaying for water just kidding paying the right amount for the numers Mak sense all right yeah then on the next topic is something that I thought I should address with you because it's something that the Town Council just addressed in their last meeting and I I believe it touches on issues that an audit committee would be concerned about and that's regarding this um settlement with a contractor um for a dispute over contractual issue issues there are aspects of it that I don't feel comfortable talking about in public but I think what I've tried to outline in here um at least is based on fact I mean that this was settled you know legally settled so there's nothing we can do to change anything but I thought it might be helpful for you to understand what happened and then hopefully the town can learn from this so that this doesn't isn't repeated going forward um so what happened was verer was awarded a contract um way back in March of 2022 um as an emergency response provider for Hurricane cleanup for potable water tank repairs for seaw wall repairs um and the contract they were selected as a contractor based on a contract they already had with ker County and so we piggybacked on that contract so in other words ker County had already gone through the competitive bidding process to select them and so they as a result then we were we also then selected them um in response to Hurricane Ian then verer came in and they provided the emergency cleanup services um to enable the town to access and shut off water M so that was the bulk of their work um early on um in October so roughly a month after the actual hurricane the contract was amended to include Federal contract Provisions that are required by FEMA um so in there was um language related to the specific rates that they could charge for equipment um so during that period of time um starting from the hurricane so that's September October November period verer issued 10 invoices for work to totaling $2.1 million um and that went from the period the end of September through um December 4th we the town paid eight of those invoices in full um they were approved by the person in charge of I think it was through utilities although I'm not not quite sure like what the position was but the person in charge of that department approved the invoices for payment so they they were approved um there was work also performed on the North Tower but it was work that was verbally authorized and there was nothing in writing regarding that and that was also by the utility director um at that time um and then we were invoiced for $168,000 in March for that work um and then if you follow along here then we did pay those first eight invoices totaling $1.7 million but they were paid without having been actually thoroughly reviewed in any way shape or form and so as tile bason became involved in trying to gather documentation assisting the town with Gathering documentation for Freema reimbursement we started to realize we did not have sufficient documentation for all of those invoices and so we they began working with the finance department at that time to work with the contractor to obtain documentation and and beer was cooperative I mean it was a lot of going back and forth um and it ended up in three different iterations of invoices um and adjustments to invoices um there were and what would happen would be there were things like um like materials were invoiced but there was no supporting documentation for the cost of those materials so what once we received that supporting documentation and compared it to the invoice we could see discrepancies and then we'd have to make adjustments or there were apparently you know calculation errors on the invoices where equipment would be charged for so much per day times for example 5 days but if you did the math the total over to the right hand col was actually for seven days not 5 days so we had to go back and seek credits for that um so those are just some examples of what had happened um that these were things that could have been caught in a review that could have been caught if we had received the supporting documentation at the time um but one of the things that we learned I so what happened was once we had two more invoices that needed need to be paid and once the finance department became aware of all of these problems and the missing documentation then we are we I mean I'm speaking on behalf of the finance department the finance department withheld payment on those last two invoices until we could get all of that squared away and get all the supporting documentation that was needed and one of the critical pieces of supporting documentation is called um what we refer to as 24s um they're they're the um activity logs that FEMA requires um to indicate you know if if there's Personnel involved you know who were the Personnel what did they do you know what were their hours and then if equipment was used what equipment did they use so these are log sheets that support um the invoicing for those individual um persons time as well as the equipment that were charged for so um verer was providing that for the first eight invoices but it they stopped when it came to the last two and they were just insisting that they be paid we were withholding payment and then that's when it went to um mediation so what we learned from that is that we're not allowed apparently to withhold payment just because we don't have documentation which is distressing to me because how do you pay an invoice when you don't really have anything to substantiate what you're paying so I don't quite understand that but I I think something needs to be added to the language of contracts in order to make sure that we can do that so I think that's one of the things that we've we've learned um from it I I tried to do kind of a summary of the types of problems you know we ran into and reviewing these you know going back and reviewing all these invoices so there were sales tax charged to us that we should not have been charged because we're we're tax exempts so that was that was a small amount 55,000 um there were supplies these were the errors and all the supplies that we were charged the materials that were we were charged of $154,000 um there were um equipment that really wasn't eligible for re reimbursement according to FEMA standards that was a small amount 7.6 th000 payroll calculation errors this is where um they had dollar amounts listed but if you did the math going across that was $38,000 worth um equipment um this is where you know the number of days times the rates did not equal the amounts they're charging us for that was $98,000 um they had duplicated um the expense that was built to us for the North Tower in a subsequent invoice that was 141,000 um there was markups of 20% that was not included in the contract um and their original contract was with us they had a 10% markup then when when the contract was amended um in October there was no markup but they continued to charge the 20% so there was a dispute over that um and then there was a demobilization expense that did not have any supporting documentation that was $65,000 um so we you know we could certainly pay that but there was no documentation for it they had the mobilization um charge documented in the beginning but they did not have anything to document the demobilization charge so all of that um added up to $590,000 um as we were moving through um the mediation I mean one of the things that we were really hoping we would receive would be those 214s that were missing because there was $192,000 of payroll and Equipment expenses on those last two invo ches that was we could be reimbursed for by FEMA if we'd only have those 214s but um that was not part of the agreement so we do not we will not be reimbursed for that so the settlement was to um pay them 225,000 um for you know and most of that then is not going to be reimbursed this a settlement itself cannot be reimbursed by FEMA funds or any Grant funds so we had to go to the town's general fund for to fund this um but fortunately or depending how you look at it we did receive that large settlement um about a month previous to that of $250,000 that we are then applying towards this payout of a settlement of $225,000 so we we did have the funding but it's just unfortunately because we could have used that you know for other other needs of the town so so the 590 adjustments yes is that that was inside the 2.1 million that was built of part of the 10 invoices yes okay yes so just so everyone understands there there's a couple problems with with this um number one was the process so we had a director giving okays to do work and it should it should have been it should have come from the town manager so that process has been rectified going forward so we're not going to see that the other big problem was the contract and this is why we settled the contract was very favorable to to the contractor instead of being in the town's favor as far as attorney's fees so we were exposed big time if if we didn't settle and it went to trial we would have had the town would have been on the hook for the attorney's fees now going forward those contracts are being adjusted so that everything's in the town's favor so but the one problem is we we asked um staff what our exposure is on other contracts that may be out there and they think they've wentle it down to maybe one or two so hopefully they can get those contracts renegotiated to in our favor so this won't happen again but that's that's why we settled and that's why the Town Council approved the settlement so the net payment then was the 17 plus the 225 yes okay so maybe something that you add to those contracts is if you know that you're going to be reimbursed by FEMA you put a clause in there and say if we can't get paid because of your ER then we should be on the hook for it let that be the mechanism for that makes sense yeah so that that's um that's the story behind that settlement and I just wanted to make sure that you understood it from your perspective okay so um then on in my report I just wanted to mention as you can see from from the financial statements I did develop a cash flow statement it has been suggested at the previous meeting so it's something that did not exist before um but we we do have now and so I created one for not only the period ending January 31st but also then I thought it would be interesting to see you know what does it look like going back from the hurricane to this September 28th but actually I had to use the date of October 1st um just because of how things were recorded in the accounting system but it's only a couple days difference so I thought that was very enlightening I could when we get to the financial statements I could point that out to you um and then Personnel update um senior accountant position has been filled by Maria green um we're very happy to have um found Maria she comes to us from the Housing Authority from the city of Fort Meyers she's very well qualified she served in a number of of um higher level accounting positions including working for um the US Department of State so she's got quite a bit of accounting and Grand experience and she's just the perfect person for what we're looking for um and she her heart is really with Fort Meers Beach and I mean she's willing to do a long commute and to take the salary that we're could only offer her um because she really cares about the town and wants to do what she can her part to help us um and the same is true for our grants and payroll coordinator position it was a brand new position that was created um it was it's filled by um FL lemmer who was uh an internal person FL had previously worked in the finance department as a staff accountant um she moved over into public works to be an administrative assistant um so her experience there in how things work and her relationships with the town and um with um the employees is going to be very helpful now um to come in Back to the uh finance department to work in accounting and grants administration because she'll be working with those department heads and people to pull in information that's needed for the grant reports um she also is going to be the um payroll coordinator so that up um that responsibility will shift from Human Resources to finance and with floor familiarity with employees and actually working with them on assisting um human resources in time sheet issues um it's it's a really good transition to have um her already practical experience in that area move over into our department and then time capturing time for Grant um reimbursement P purposes is also important and so her familiarity with that and her responsibility for doing that will go hand inand with um Grant reimburse responsibilities and I just wanted you to know that I did after moving from Illinois I finally got my Florida CPA license transferred here so it's now official that took longer than I thought it would take congrats so otherwise then I do have the full packet of financial statements for you I you know there's a lot here so basically I just wanted to go over the format for you so that the first one of course is the balance sheet for the governmental funds um it's just through January 31st so it would start from the beginning of the fiscal year which is October 1st through January 31st basically four months um and it's by fund so you've got general fund that service fund the emergency fund is where all of the um emergency expenditures are going through that where insurance and feema reimbursements are funding um the gas tax fund is is literally that it's the tax Revenue that we receive um and then is paid out um for Road um Improvement and maintenance um things beach access has to do with tourism Development Council um grant funding we receive a grant each year and that's used primarily for um supporting and maintaining the beach accesses um and some of our Parks or what cultural areas like the mound house um Newton Park when that was in existence it funded that as well so um but that's that's what that fund is for the building fund is really the capital fund that's where we um do all of the expenditures for Capital Improvement projects um oh I'm sorry I'm I am not thinking clearly the building fund is the building permit Revenue um fund so that is where we have the bulk of that Revenue coming in is for the permit revenue and related fines and fees um and the expenditures would have to do with with maintaining that and compliance the the capital fund is where we do our Capital expenditures and similarly um the community enhancement projects that that's a special fund that um I don't have a lot of knowledge of I think it was maybe more significant in previous years um where a certain amount was set aside for specific projects um that town council members um wanteded to see um take place and so that's that was put into a specific fund but basically it works together with the capital fund to accomplish all of our Capital Improvements the bridge loan is that operating loan that we received from the state um to use to help um offset revenue losses the American Rescue plan um fund is just that it's where we keep those funds the full amount is currently sitting there since we have not yet transferred anything out and then we have the impact fee funds Road impact and park impact fees and that has to do when new developments come in um they they pay a certain impact fee and then that's used to um pay for improvements related um to support the additional um population or usage that might come about as a result of those developments the next page is the um balance sheet for the well it's actually called a state the official title is statement of net phys for our proprietary funds and those are the water and storm water funds so the similar format then follows through for for the rest of the statements were you first have the revenue and expenditures for the governmental funds it's the same group of funds um it's several Pages because it's it's all the detail and forgive me if it's too much detail I I don't mean to overwhelm you but I I didn't know exactly what to do because I don't want to hide anything from you I want you to be able to know that you can look at this and find the detail that you would like if you're interested in specific line item I don't have this broken down by Department I can do that it would be a much lengthier report but if you do think that that would be of use to you I can certainly do that for you but this at least gives you an idea of what all the types of expenditures there are and and in what fund they occur um so then we have the same thing with the statement of revenues expenses and changes in net assets for the proprietary funds so it's all the same line items um but it's just related to water and storm water so you'll see a lot of zeros there because not all the same line items pertain to these funds um okay and then if you move on to the statement of cash flows this is also by fund um I did the best I could with the accounts that we have in place um I looked at Lee County statement of cash flows they they might divide things up a little bit more specifically but I wasn't able to do that um because for example accounts receivable we we just have a general accounts receivable account and it's not specific to certain um types of receivables we can maybe make that change in the future but right now in order to run a report um we have to I just have to utilize that one so it but it still tells a pretty good story we're able to separate it out by operating activities by financing activities and financing activities would um include grants and insurance um proceeds that may be coming in so that's and then the debt funding that could possibly come into play um and then investing activities includes some investment in um Capital expenditures so that and then we have the similar one for water and storm water then I have a comparison of Revenue and expenditures for just the general fund because that's really the the critical one that most all of our expenditures are in um all of the other funds are self-balancing their expenditures related to those specific revenue streams like for example you know beach access it's the tourism development Council so it's only those expenditures related to that that are reimbursable by grants so that's those are all self-funded by their own Revenue sources but the general fund this is really the catchall for everything else that is not necessarily funded by grants we have you know various revenues coming in as you can see with with taxes fees um but this tells you that what I tried to do because if you take the annual budget and just compare it to the four months worth of expenses it it may tell you where you are in terms of the annual budget but where what are you how are you tracking at least so far in the year I don't have a perfect way of doing this so basically what I did was I took four months worth of the annual budget to compare against four months worth of the actual data and so you can see that very first line item for ad valorum taxes we're ahead by 1,40 ,000 but that's because we receive most of the tax revenue in the beginning of the year um but it it at least gives you an idea of where we stand um if you go down to the total revenue you can see that we're about 1.1 or almost $1.2 million ahead of budget at this time at this point in the year and then if you follow along all the way down to the end to um the or the end of the this budget versus actual report you can see the expenses were also ahead by 1.4 million in terms of um being better than or I should say less than what was budgeted so we're doing we're doing a good job of keeping expenses under control and so alog together we're $2.6 million um of a favorable variance then what I did um in the next set of reports is I was trying to calculate how how is revenue compare in terms of like a c trying to calculate lost Revenue the the best way to do that with the information that exists is to compare like this year's Revenue to the 2023 budget because the 2023 budget was put together before the hurricane and that was what and that was conservative so that is what we expected to bring in if it was going to be a normal year without the hurricane and as of 2023 so now if we compare that to what we actually brought in you know again I took a four month four months worth of it and I'm comparing that to actual um if you compare the actual to that four months worth of the 2023 budget you can see that we're within $42,000 of it and so we're we're very close so far to um to not actually having lost Revenue but again most of the positive variance has to do with the taxes coming in um at the beginning of the year so as as the year plays out and we're also in the busy season right now with um maybe more parking Revenue coming in so that's going to make things look better right now so but we'll we'll keep an eye on it I'll keep generating this report month on month so you can get an idea of it and then the very last report I Pro provided for you is the cash flow since the hurricane and so I think this kind of gives you an idea of where the money was spent and where the revenues came in from and you can see the bulk of the expenditures was in the emergency fund of of course because that all has to do with a response to the hurricane so oh Joe just a quick question sure you know back on the uh comparative financials 23 to 24 uh but in 24 and I know cuz circumstances changed but we've got on the revenue side starting with the ledger 38122 so those four items are Income uh issues for us now didn't exist in 20 pre hurricane is that a correct statement I'm sorry so what I did quite to the page two yes of the uh General Revenue okay the four months right so when we compare uh prior to Ian to postan those those transfers which start with Ledger 38122 are are new for 24 wouldn't have existed prior to Prior because they were as a result of Ian but I guess my real question is so those are Revenue items uh for the budget um I'm just I guess I'm struggling just a little bit with um classification well yes you're you're correct I mean that that's why um they're highlighted in yellow because I wanted to um make that the same so that the variance would be zero because I did not want that to skew anything so you're you're correct in in pointing out that that those are new but I tried to um off to to um to handle it in such a way that it didn't cause it to um create a difference got it thank you okay I'm sorry to overwhelm you with all of this data but um I'm certainly happy to go over anything in more detail with you one onone or if you have specific questions I can come back back with to the next meeting with it or if you have any suggestions as to you know what would make this easier to follow um or to understand you know I I'm I'd be happy to yeah I've got one question under um general fund statement bu the budget versus actual code enforcement fee we got $250,000 was that the majority of that from Terry and then where does that go if we're going to apply it to to V that'll just be an expense the right yes um what will what will happen is that it'll be a transfer um out of the same Department that 200 well we're only there's 250 that came in we're only going to use 225,000 of it so there'll be a transfer out of that department to the emergency fund to help pay for that settlement which is where all the other expenses are so that it'll show up as a transfer expense okay thank you and then the very last um page is um the cash investment and Loans I just tried to put there for you um just so you can see where all of our cash is sitting all the bank accounts it's sitting in the interest rate that we're getting on them um just so it's visible to you um we do have a few certificates of deposit it out there very very low interest rates um that have been out there for a while um and we do have some investments in bonds with um fmit um and then we do I also wanted to include the loans that we have out there so we've got that um First Foundation bank loan at 3.15% the balance is 2.6 million um that that has to do with um that $6.7 million that I said was still available this is the remaining balance of it because we have been paying down what was already borrowed um each every 6 months we have a payment against it so it's that balance is coming down but it's a fixed rate uh I mean a fixed payment that's been built into the budget so that's already established and as part of the budget um and then we have all the storm water Improv mov ments and those loan payments are paid right out of the the storm water and water funds and are paid for by their revenue and then we've got um the $1.9 million operating bridge loan that's still sitting in the fund we haven't quite used it yet although we did officially plan to use it but we haven't had to use it yet and then we've got the $5 million um 0% interest loan that we just received that will be paid with Prema reimbursements so Joe for the uh I guess the five loans in question those are those advertising or are these interest well it depends um the First Foundation bank is advertising um and we pay we actually are paying monthly but semi anuales 288,000 each um every 6 months the state revolv in funds they're advertising um but they're I'm putting the payment amounts here but actually last year and this year those payments were suspended by the state because of the Lost revenue and water and utilities so we're not actually making those payments but I I didn't want to lose visibility of those because they're going to kick back in as soon as the steer is over um the the operating bridge loan that 10% that 11 $9 million loan we have to pay interest of 10% I mean if that's according to the one and only document we have so far we don't have anything updated even though legislation has been passed 10% interest kicks in starting July 1st on any unpaid balance and then the requirement to repay the principal balance is based on our ability to do so so there's nothing preset it's very vague um so we could I guess we just need to demonstrate that if we're not paying it back why we're not paying it back um and then the $5 million that that will be repaid by FEMA reimbursement so there's no set um amortization schedule for that either great thank you Joe excuse me on these certificates of the pazu with the very low interest rate can't we cash those in pay the penalty and invest them and combine them all and put them in get a bigger better rate of return three of these I we I'm sure we could I honestly I haven't taken the time to look into that but I mean it's we we can do much better than that especially when you look at what we're getting just from our our normal bank account at First Foundation Bank 5.06% we do better to just deposit it there um than leave it where it is so as they're maturing um we can certainly do that we have that one coming up in April um I just I have to look into it a little more closely to understand like why was it even put there to begin with um but I'm you know fairly certain we can move it I I don't know of a reason why we can't I just want to make sure there isn't a reason why we can't so so that I think covers um the financial statements um let's see on the agenda the the idea of a forensic audit keeps coming up and I've not brought it to your attention yet we've only met twice um because I this is really something that's coming from Town Council and I'm really not the spokesperson for Town Council so I've been uncomfortable to um present it myself but I wanted to put it on the agenda because I end up being asked about it in the Town Council meetings and so I wanted to at least present it to you and tell you the little bit I know about it since I've started which was March you know a year ago um there's been concerns expressed and questions asked you know should we do a forensic audit what do you think about doing a forensic audit um of course I had no knowledge of what went on had and so I could not answer that initially since I've been there since we've been through the the audit of 20122 I've not seen anything that's been of concern of course I'm not a forensic auditor so maybe there's something I missed um something that I could imagine as a possibility is that maybe somewhere somehow invoices have been submitted to the town for maybe work that was never really done that's I could I could imagine that as a possibility but each individual Department had you know signs off on their invoices that are flowing through as as um authorization that the service or these Goods has been performed or these Goods have been received so we do have verification from you know who are supposed to be the sources of watching over that but whether something could have happened that we don't know about I mean that's always a possibility I I don't know how a parens audit could uncover that but you know I'm certainly not opposed to it I'm I have no reason to um be I've not seen anything that would be of concern other than what I can imagine as maybe it happened um but I think also the concern has to do with um the previous administration and I think think they're just looking to see if there was anything I don't know that they have a specific um knowledge of anything that actually happened but if if they're looking to go and look at the entire um term of the previous administration that would go back to April of 2017 all the way to the end of 2022 so that's about 5 years worth and when this was brought up at the Town council meeting um the town attorney and I I hesitate to speak for her but to the best of my ability to remember what she said she expressed that the statute of limitations was 2 years so it couldn't go back that far she said it was or further than that and expect to recoup anything um she also thought it was very difficult to prove fraud so it could end up being very costly in terms of legal fees and so in the end would it really benefit the town financially to do this I mean that's the question that I thought maybe she was Raising Without Really asking that question that's what it made me think and and she did say it was like throwing good money after bad and so I mean that I'm bringing this to as like the context in which it was raised again at this last meeting um and I just wanted to bring it to you because I think there were also questions asked what does the audit committee think of this what have you discussed it with the audit committee and so I I wanted to bring this to you so that you have a chance to weigh in on it and express your views yeah I I think basically they they want to get your Sage advice is if if we should pursue this I mean there's there's always questions of valuations I mean we saw that this contract was not in our favor so you know a I guess what would be the purpose is it is is it to fine fraud is it to or is it to hey there's some problems here and we need best practices going forward so I I guess we have to ask ourselves you know what would the purpose be would it be to find fraudulent activity or or or missing invoices or what have you or would it be a learning experience so going forward we can get best practices and then we have to also look at the look at the cost of it so we as the Town Council we you there's legal considerations of course but I mean basically do you guys think there's enough reason to do this and it what's the cost benefit of it so just asking your guys advice yeah I think there could be some benefit depending on scope right I mean it sounds like now and before we had a process for sign off i' be curious how many of those people that were in those positions prior to Ian are still in those positions cuz my assumption is probably there's been a decent amount of change or turnover right which which complicates the process but as from a good governance standpoint I don't know the process with uh forensic accountants can you have an interview get a bid that defines scope right and then and then make a determination from there as far as a recommendation yeah I think they could I think there's hourly billing or they could do it as as a project then you have to give them a scope of how how deep you want them to go and how how how deep a dive you want is it just a a a gloss looking at the checkbook or is it a deep dive into looking at all the invoices and processes and all that so I I guess may you you might say hey is there a way the audit audit committee could come up with a with a scope for the Town Council yes yes he me yes I I would to to make sure that we have good internal controls set in place and to prove that those internal controls are working so that you know that it's kind of like a survey I apply here but if you make sure that you have good procedur following controls uring that everything been done properly that you wouldn't those in future or at least those controls is a sage point is that a normal practice when there's a regime change that towns go out and do a forensic audit I don't know if that's normal practice or not if it's not and then you throw the hurricane on top of it I mean I'm sure stuff was missed right after the hurricane I mean people do it do it do it do it do it so is that the reason or was it there was something else I mean I that's that's a question the Town Council we're we're getting everyday people asking us if we're considering this so know you guys are the financial experts and I I think what your advice would be and she had a great point I mean maybe we just you know have best practices and you know I I know Andy and Frankie are are coming up with best practices but maybe put you know tell us what what exactly those are instead of saying hey we're doing it right well I would say the best practice practice is to keep a finance director on payroll I we didn't have one forever that's number one um unless then over time if there was anything going on in the past now we have a finance director I think you would see something later on without going through a I mean if you want to if it ain't broke don't fix it um we got enough to do I mean doesn't FEMA audit everything well FEMA will be auditing obviously anything that they have anything to do with so before they reimburse us for a penny they're they're going through everything with the fine tooth comb so it it's um yeah I don't think that that would be where the problem would be but so I guess so just as a matter of clarification when you mentioned that you know maybe some of these contracts weren't handled quite correctly or whatnot I mean do you have evidence more of than a gut feel of some of that may have taken place that that comes from the attorney okay okay you know they I'm not a contract expert but you know it was basically she said that those contracts were very fav favorable to to the to the vendors and not to the town especially on the backend exposure with with uh exactly what happened with with this customer I mean right but we we could have we could have been on the hook for a substantial amount of legal fees had we lost so uh I know they're they're redoing the contracts to make it more favorable for the town sure in the future I I know that that's that's a fact so so I guess maybe the the question and is maybe there's nothing fraudulent here but maybe more mismanagement historically or lack of question I'm asking you guys back to uh Debbie's comment about having you know controls in place right uh so when we get a contract does the vendor put the contract together and then we sign it or do we put the contract together and then they sign it well I mean I I the little bit I know like in the case of this this verer thing there might have been three or four other contracts verer came when the contract was amended they brought their own contract and they used it for I think three possibly four other contractors so that they could all have amend their contracts to include this um female this required female language in them so they brought the contract to the language and from what I understand and I maybe there's more to it it was just accepted and and approved and used and with their own language in it so Brian what what would what do you think my recommendation the C I mean the council's looking for some guidance right is far as far as you know should we pursue this should we maybe put the focus on best practices um I I'm I'm just I'm just the liais on so I you know I want to get a feel for what you guys think I'm not telling you one way or another what what I think I'm I'm asking for your your advice well maybe we ask our Auditors that are doing the audit the annual audit and see if they feel like I'm sorry but there's two different things in audit is just everything's in its proper place forensic accounting is another unless you're looking for something specific for have an idea but I think with the hurricane everything was up for grabs right what about a for lack of a better uh um word or connotation what about a best practices as kind of plan a that would be helpful to everybody and then maybe the second part of that is maybe have a conversation with a forensic accountant to say hey this is our circumstances and your professional opinion uh do you think we should go beyond a discussion here and and if they say we don't think so then we've done our job uh we've raised the awareness and um you know the town can make their decision as a Town Council from there I like that I agree with the internal controls best practices like as you said after the hurricane it was just yeah so you know going forward we need to prove that everything's good what about Brian's suggesting that we maybe bring a a forensic accountant in and just say hey this is what we're thinking of doing what you know give us give us your thoughts they're going to want to bill bill bill I guess that's what I'm saying is we have the conversation without an engagement yeah right to I mean I know in in it's not the same but in my line of business most of our engagements start in some sort of an interview process and then they make a selection and then contracts and and and pricing of services are put on on the table so up until that point you know no one has exchanged any money it's just exchange of information and thoughts Joe Joe two things that you said struck me one was you you think you deduced what the attorney was saying and we might be chasing throwing good money after bad and as soon as you said that it got me thinking about what what are we really chasing I agree with this best practices approach and you also said and you're explaining two things I think in here this is what we've learned and this is what we'll do going forward so you're learning in every Walk of Life we're going to learn and make mistakes and people are very confident in your performance so far and between you and the contracts people sounds like those are the only two big problems that maybe there are maybe there's no bad yeah you know there mistakes people make and those procedurally there was there was some mistakes I mean letting somebody just without going to town manage so yeah go do the work and I realized there was a hurricane so I'm not passing judgment but there there's got to be a best practice even there is a hurricane you you got to have procedures in place where money's just not flying out the door and your exposures increase substantially and so Joe's already telling us he's doing these kind of things and there are other people people in this town hall who I don't know who probably can work with you on the biggest problem areas which I'm still hearing are only finance and contracts theit where the where the most mistakes can happen yes um I'm I'm I'm sorry if I'm I'm thinking about everything you're saying um I I guess I'm a little bit nervous that maybe you're putting too much confidence in me only because I don't I'm wondering if you think I have more control and Authority than I really do so um although I know how things should be done and we try to tell everybody to do it that way we don't have control over everybody and so are they really doing it or you know we we're trying to we're trying to pull documentation together to make sure that they provide whatever you know to document authorizations um but but that's I think the challenge every organization is it's not you you don't have total control and I think um that's maybe the Crux of it so and then how if you don't have total control what do you do to make sure you have as much control as possible that you have the the guard rails in place to make sure that nothing can get past that um financially I think we have it's pretty good but it's just I don't know contractually and how things are actually it's like in the execution of work in the ex selection of people I don't know you know that's kind of outside my perview so I don't I can't like speak to that and I think we're at risk there because you don't know if the people are really doing what they need to be doing if they're doing it the right way they're actually doing it um I think I think there's those are more risks there and I think that that was part of the problem that we came into things were not being done properly and it's so it's really a lot some of the responsibility falls on all of the managers to make sure that things are being properly done and I I think we have a pretty good team in place now you know I don't I don't they don't report to me but from what I can see everyone seems to be trying to do things the right way and are cooperating with us to the best of their ability so so who who actually distributes the money so the utility person says Hey pay this Vino who pays it who did they a it out or they I mean it comes through the finance depart so any outgoing dispersements actually come through the finance department we have an accounts payable person or you know a few people that handle it so it does come through us and we make sure that it's authorized properly before the payment goes out but you know it's more dependent on upon that person who authorized it that it is correct so Maran what do you think I mean put a cap on it I don't know then it's an alert if you go over a certain dollar amount I don't know how you do it but uh the accountants would know that the the internal Auditors would know that um two signatures or something second approval if you're talking about payments going out I mean I'm trying to figure out where you think the fraud is happened I'm like okay well sounds like somebody thinks it happened before right and and that's throwing the good money after bad because of statute of limitations proving things we've I'm sure we've lost some records in this whole process that that's kind of where I was going throwing the good money after bad we won't even if we find any bad which we might not ever find we've we've wasted a lot of time that you folks who are talented in each of your disciplines can work together to put some be sure you have better practices in place like you said the public is asking are we really doing this right right I mean just not to be from my standpoint but I don't see a ton of time or expense involved in having a conversation with a forensic account right and then at least we can document black and white we had the conversation appears it was their Prof professional opinion that all the things you just mentioned and the attorney mentioned there's nothing here but we check the box right just to provide some contacts that maybe you don't have just to address something that was just mentioned any expense like over $225,000 must be approved by the Town Council so we we have that um any any check that's written over $10,000 needs two signatures so it be either the mayor and the town manager or the you know or there's I think the vicee is another authorized signer so you know one or two of those three people have to sign off on the check you know and there's provided with all the supporting documentation so if they have a question they can look at it as well um so and we also have purchase orders that are signed off on that go along with with um the purchase so there's there are other measures of control that we try to make sure that things are shorted up as best as possible um it it it's not it's not we just pay a bill when someone signs that there's a little more to it than that and I just want to make sure you know that we have that context as well okay sir are should I take Brian's recommend are you guys comfortable with me going back to Town Council the on Monday with Brian's recommendation that you know we focus on best practices but we still think we need to have a conversation with with the forensic account to get get their determination that way we've kind of checked all the go yes I I don't know if we have a conversation with they're gonna obviously say that we need their help right don't want again again this I I'm I need I just need to know what to go unless there's something that they really suspect on a you know specific contract I wouldn't can we consult with our Auditors that's what I said yeah okay so how about that that that may be the best that you know we should focus on best practices and we're going to consult with the Auditors to see if there's there's some smoke right mhm comfortable with that sure okay that's that's the thank you that's the direction I will pass on to Town Council that's perfect and maybe you have that conversation with the Auditors and and then we'll you report back to our next meaning then we'll just move forward because like you said Barbara there we've we've got a lot of lot of things to focus on and limited resources so let's you know have them do what they're keep doing what they're good at so I I I would agree with that but I I think Joe you should maybe have the conversation with the Auditors just to see if there's some smoke there and that then if there is then we have that conversation but I'll take it back to the Town Council that we should focus on best practices I'd be happy to have that conversation but I think someone else should also participate just so that there's no conflict of interest I mean if if um one of the AUD committee members are got if you would also like have like maybe a conference call with them or if they come out in person just so that um you can also hear the same things that I'm hearing yeah let me let me pass it by Town Council just just I only been on the job for a month so let me see what the best practi is from a Town's perspective where Andy needs to be there one of somebody from the Town Council let me let me find out what that best practice would be and keep again we want to be transparent and and do things right right so let me let me ask that question at at the next town council meeting and we'll go from there Joe can I ask it I I think I know the answer to this but um all of those different checks and balances with all the different payments those written down and does the new do the new employees that might be involved all know this has enough there's a lot of change here and is there enough orientation or handbook or something in writing that would explain those sorts of things like you can't you can't pay something unless you have these two signatures oh all those things you were bringing up is do you think that everybody's educated about those things now with the new staff I I think so I mean the accounts payable department is probably the most stable they same person is there since I started so they certainly know all of those procedures um and the the new PE well and then the backup person has been here even longer so I mean those procedures are pretty well established uh as far as is it written down I I can't say that it's written down very well I mean that's one of the things that I think we need to do better with is our develop our official written policies and procedures just haven't had time to address that yet but that is something that can be improved upon but they certainly know like the basics of what to do and we We are following that so I I we probably already touched on this but there's um the risks and costs related to legal fees from contracts and upcoming demolitions planned by the town this was something that Jeff had asked me to put on the agenda um I did Reach Out out to our attorneys and ask that question um like what what is our risk related to the possible demolitions that we would be doing um but I haven't had a response yet and I know that's something they're they're currently working on and they're they're carefully um working on the the legal approach in order to minimize our risk but I don't I at this point I don't really know what the finan fincial risk would be yet but it's something that I'm still pursuing okay so that's all I I have where you canless you have more questions or we number Mo on member any are there any member items and reports none okay and now our next meeting yes um I was asked and I forgot to look on my calendar but I was asked by the town clerk if we could make an effort to try to keep our meetings like on a regular schedule um so I believe they've had been on the second Monday of the month previously is that a possibility to do that going forward so that we have like a regular meeting time set aside or um does then anyone have a problem with that no I just speak for me long as we're if we want to do something consistent like that and then lock down the dates that's would be just for what it's worth personally best for me okay and then we can go ahead and put put it on the calendar as a monthly meeting of course that could be cancelled or if need be rescheduled but at least to have a starting point of a regular schedule sounds good that's great okay so April 8 Zoom I'm G to be out of town but I would be here always this is an professionally active committee outside B it of any of the Committees I've ever been right uh which is great because it it it it makes for a great Dynamic you know we don't have you know everybody coming from the same discipline or background or perspective right and there's always Zoom you don't want to zoom in from Europe or wherever the Bahamas side oh I think that's probably going to have to be mandatory for you Michael thank you thank you but we'll have to do it in the afternoon not the morning work well we have a quorum for the eth then okay I'm probably to do it I'm going to be out of town what about Deb Deb okay so looks like we at least have qu are we allowed to meet without you yeah yeah you can zoom in I can zoom in sure yeah I've got uh we're going to Dallas for the Eclipse which is cool well see see grandkids too that be really total eclipse right over so will Zoom work we can't see you yeah be 1:30 in the afternoon so yeah I'll be able to get on in the morning no problem Joe thank you the uh thank you you know having an opportunity over the years to set to them of these um this is the best one I've experienced today so thank you information is complete and helpful and really appreciate the dialogue as well oh well thank you for the encouragement um it's a lot of work but it's worth it if if it's accomplishing what it needs to so thank you so when do you think your software procurement will I well I would think within this next month I mean Frankie was trying to get me information this week and apparently he wasn't able to but you know so I know he's actively working on it and and I think it'll be forthcoming so what's the software that you guys are all familiar with well I was I didn't know if I should mention it in public so I was hesitant to do that um no worries I can offline maybe and you'll take care of our names so we don't lose them right yes thank you I'll collect your names and put it in our trusty little box back we vote the Jour the motion I'll make the motion second meeting thank you thank you everyone all right