Dear City Manager and Mayor, our 3 requests for our City’s financial information have gone unanswered.  The City is 45 days late in publishing a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).  The CAFR is required by Charter to be published no later than 90 days after the close of the fiscal year.  The fiscal year closed 135 days ago.

                             There can only be a couple of reasons for refusing to publish a CAFR; you can not publish it because you do not know how much money came in and how much you spent, or, you refuse to tell the Citizens of this City the truth.

                             We are 135 days into the current fiscal year, which starts on July 1^st, but we have no real budget!!  We have completed 37% of the year, and you have no financial plan?  Mayor, you wanted to be paid a large salary, and you wanted to be held accountable.  You have not even answered the 3 e-mailed requests I have sent.  What should I think about your accountability?  And, now that you have a high-priced Auditor, what is he doing? 

                             This failure to account for the financial condition of our City is more than troubling.  If our finance department simply cannot publish the checkbook because they have not done the work, then they should be fired.  If the finance department refuses to publish the information, they should be fired.  The sickest part of this failure is that the Mayor and Council obviously do not care that City Staff cannot do their jobs.

                             Last year, the CAFR was 230 days late, and it showed a City going into bankruptcy.  Hiding the current situation is absolutely unacceptable.  We read in today’s BEE that the State is going to increase our State income tax and the sales tax; the State is withholding funds from cities and counties; the Modesto spending plan (not a “budget”) is apparently $25 Million in deficit! 

                             The Stanislaus Taxpayers Association simply cannot accept the inability, or refusal, of the City to communicate with the Citizens.  The STA expects a quick and complete disclosure of the financial woes of our City.

                             Thank you very much for your consideration,  Dave Thomas, Co-chair of the STA.

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