For the last several weeks, the Courier News has been delving into a mountain of city of Blytheville financial records.
Our hope is to shed some light on how the $2.4 million or so unremitted payroll taxes were spent those years.
There have been some disturbing findings thus far, and I'm sure we'll find more as the project moves along.
The preliminary evidence indicates that city's financial struggles stem from previous mismanagement of funds, indications of abuse of power and poor methods and policies, to name a few issues.
Controlling something as simple as mileage expenses could have saved the city lots of cash.
Apparently, that wasn't done well under the previous administration.
One employee's mileage figures leaped off the page.
According to mileage sheets, in 2009, water plant manager Matt Mosley received $4,916.22 in mileage (48.5 cents per mile), averaging $409.68 a month for mileage. That reimbursement was in addition to a handsome $49,000 salary.
The mileage sheets show most of the beginning mileage is the same as the ending mileage from the previous day. That would suggest he drove the vehicle almost exclusively for work and charged mileage from home to work.
The sheets also indicate Mosley charged excessive miles for trips from one point of town to another.
One line shows 63 miles from Second Street to the Ruddle plant with a description of service line/power. Apparently the miles cover a full day of driving.
Matt's father, Public Works director Rick Mosley, signed off on the mileage sheets.
The 2010 mileage sheets were unavailable, apparently still in water department auditor's hands.
Mosley's mileage was comparable to what an officer drives a patrol unit during a 12-hour shift.
Matt Mosley told the CN that he marked just one point of reference for a full day's mileage because that's what he was told to do.That had always been the policy, he contended.
Mosley said he was the only water department employee driving around town all day in a personal vehicle; other water company employees used a city vehicle.
According to his job description at the time, Mosley's role as water plant manager was to supervise distribution department personnel; locate mains and sewer lines for construction, utilities, government agencies, etc.; complete mileage reports for all vehicles; supervise production department personnel; perform plumbing inspections for services outside the city limits; check backflow equipment installations; inspect firelines, sprinkler systems, etc. to determine the necessity of backflow equipment; bid new projects; complete all paperwork for Arkansas Highway Department permits; do all purchasing for distribution and production departments; and perform essential duties as assigned.
Blytheville Mayor James Sanders said he noticed the unusual mileage calculations last summer during the water department's 2010 audit process.
"I stopped that; that's not happening anymore," Sanders said.
Mileage costs in the water department triggered a change in policy.
It also led Sanders to ask for a fleet of city vehicles.
At the Sept. 12, 2011, Personnel Committee meeting, personnel director Judy Andrews said employees are paid mileage, though there was no policy that allows it. The board discussed eliminating mileage in town and requiring employees to use city vehicles to run city errands.
The handbook passed earlier this month limits the maximum reimbursable mileage inside the city at 20 miles per month at the Internal Revenue Service allowable rate. It also says all supervisors will have a city vehicle at their disposal. As for trips, the city will use Google Maps to calculate the shortest distance and reimburse at that rate, according to the new handbook.
Sanders said he sought advice at Municipal League basic budgeting meetings, from city treasurer Gary Perry and the city's finance office.
"We saw that there were large amounts of money being allocated for overtime and in mileage areas," he said. "We then stopped that right there. We put a stop to it.
"After discussing some things and it was told to me how things were calculated, I looked at those things to determine whether or not I believe those calculations should have been done that way. I didn't believe they should be and I stopped it."
Later Sanders specified that he meant the water department's method of calculating mileage.
The mileage abuse is just a snapshot of the city's mismanagement the last several years.
Hopefully, the recent policies changes have resolved that issue and get Blytheville on the right path.
Time will tell.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com