Council to Review Budget at Work Session

BLYTHEWOOD – The Town Council will hold a work session Friday, Feb. 7, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the Manor. The purpose of the session, according to Mayor J. Michael Ross, is to discuss a wide variety of difficult issues Council is facing, but primarily to look at revising the budget to better reflect the Town’s financial situation. Ross told The Voice that Council will also discuss the selection process for a search committee for a permanent Town Administrator to replace former Administrator John Perry. Ross had previously announced that a search committee would be named at the January Council meeting, but it was not on the agenda.

Other items on the agenda include: FY2014-15 budget preparation process; collateral duties for Council members; goals for 2013, 2014-15 and a roundtable discussion on topics and prioritizations for a March workshop. Other financial issues to be discussed will include monthly reports to Council and how to structure financing for the Doko Restaurant.

Council will discuss negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements in executive session.

It is expected Council will spend considerable time discussing ways to stop the financial bleeding of the Manor. Councilman Bob Massa, a CPA, has been working closely with the Town’s CPA, Kem Smith, to look at ways to make the budget more closely mirror the Manor’s financial predicament going forward. In a report to Council on Jan. 27, Smith pointed out that the $20,000 loss budgeted for the entire 2014 fiscal year for the Manor has already been surpassed during the first six months of the fiscal year. Smith told Council that their budget needs to be revised to reflect the prospects of a greater loss.

The work session is a public meeting and the public is invited to attend. An agenda is posted in the post office, on the door of the Manor and on the door of the Town Hall. It is also posted on the Town’s Website.

Contact us: (803) 767-5711 | P.O. Box 675, Blythewood, SC 29016 | [email protected]