IS IT TRUE JANUARY 16, 2018

28
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?
IS IT TRUE here is the link to the Indiana State Boards Of Accounts audit for the City Of Evansville for 2016?  …here’s a copy of the audit reports?
IS IT TRUE that the Indiana State Board of Accounts has finally issued the results of the annual audit of the financial statements of the City of Evansville and the results are nothing to stir any civic pride?…for starters the audit expresses an ADVERSE OPINION with respect to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices)?…this ADVERSE OPINION is an annually recurring thing with the City of Evansville that has been going on so long that it is evident that the people in charge of accounting do not care about generally accepted accounting principles?…let us be clear that this is not something that deserves respect or praise?…this is a badge of either incompetence, laziness, or both?
IS IT TRUE and ADVERSE OPINION with respect to GAAP is not the worse thing in the 2016 audit?…during the year there were eleven (11) different accounts that were overdrawn at one time or another and 2016 ended with six (6) accounts overdrawn by a total of $6.4 million?…the account ending the year with the highest overdrawn balance was the Employees Hospitalization Insurance account that ended the year in the red by $5 Million after having a high overdraft of $7.5 Million during 2016?…the parking garage account ended the year overdrawn by $189,000?…the Rental House Inspection account eded the year in the red by $5,000?…the Victory Theater account ended the year with a negative balance of $226,000?…the Golf Course Fund was $704,000 under the water at the end of 2016?…the Sports Account rounded out the overdrawn accounts by $340,000?
IS IT TRUE during 2016 the General Fund that covers employee salaries was overdrawn by a maximum of $15.7 Million?…we do not know when that was during the year?…the Park’s and Recreation fund was overdrawn by $2 Million at some point in 2016?…the reality is that the City of Evansville is robbing Peter to pay Paul on a recurring basis all year long every year in modern history?
IS IT TRUE every year the State Board of Accounts issues an ADVERSE OPINION regarding GAAP and admits that the City of Evansville needs to manage their cash better so that the shuffling of funds through a host of accounts will not be necessary, yet the bad practices continue?
IS IT TRUE that the most interesting opinions issued are with respect to the sports accounts that are all called out for having insufficient revenue to cover expenses? …Golf was signaled out for being a declining sport and the Sports Account was also fingered for continual decline of revenue?…the reality is that all of these fun and games things are bleeding Evansville to death and there is no end in sight?
IS IT TRUE the debt load of the City of Evansville is now $631,607,501?…that the annual payments on this debt amount to $33 Million?…that excludes the Ford Center debt which is included in the City expenses as an annual lease payment since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission owns the Ford Center and the City has used a lease to funnel the payments to the ERC?…we wonder how much another debt is masked in the “SENEGAL” (legal but sneaky) way?
IS IT TRUE that the City Of Evansville received a cash advancement of $25 million dollars from Tropicana? …on December 28, 2015, the City Of Evansville received a $12.5 million dollar advancement from Tropicana?  …about two (2) years later the City of Evansville got the remaining $12.5 million dollar cash advancement from Tropicana? …the City of Evansville has agreed to repay back Tropicana this cash advancement over a 10 year period? …that Tropicana annual riverboat fund payment to the City of Evansville will be reduced by $2.5 million dollars per year for the next 10 years in order to repay the $25 million back?
IS IT TRUE it looks like the City Of Evansville also has a habit of getting millions of dollar advancements from the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities Department?
IS IT TRUE we couldn’t find any reference in this State audit to how much did the City of Evansville pay to help subsidize the Evansville Thunderbolts hockey team?
IS IT TRUE we wonder why the City Council Finance Chairmen Dan McGinn (I) didn’t show up to the State Board of Accounts exit conference to hear the audit findings?

IS IT TRUE that some people wonder why City Council didn’t select a Democrat to be the new City Council attorney?  …we have been told the reason why is that the current City Council attorney is doing a very good job in advising members of City Council in a nonpartisan manner?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the City Controller should have made the results of the Indiana State Board of Accounts 2016 audit of the City of Evansville public?
Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE FILES, CHANNEL 44 NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS” and “LOCAL SPORTS”.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.

EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:  Any readers comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers

28 COMMENTS

  1. This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the NAACP wants man-made global warming to be seen as a civil rights issue, arguing King’s vision of a society free of racial injustice can’t be achieved without addressing warming.

    “We see climate change as a civil rights issue,” Jacqueline Patterson, head of the NAACP’s environmental and climate justice program, said in an online radio spot for the Yale Center for Environmental Connection.

    Environmental activists have been increasingly framing global warming as a matter of “environmental justice,” since “minority and low-income populations are disproportionately affected by global warming,” Patterson told Yale’s online radio Climate Connections.

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/15/naacp-says-mlks-vision-cant-be-achieved-without-fighting-global-warming/

  2. Chelsea fka Bradley Manning, new Democrat political star:
    ……………………….
    “Chelsea Manning, the transgender Maryland woman convicted of sharing thousands of military documents with Wikileaks, has filed her candidacy to challenge Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin in this year’s election.

    Manning declared her intentions Jan. 5 with the Federal Election Commission, which posted the document on its website Thursday. She is running as a Democrat.

    Manning, a 30-year-old Oklahoma native, had previously lived in Montgomery County before enlisting in the Army and eventually facing a court-martial for leaking classified and sensitive information. She moved back to Maryland last year after President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence in the final days of his administration.

    http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-chelsea-manning-senate-20180113-story.html

    • If Obama commuted the sentence, the conviction should still be on the record. Wouldn’t that preclude a U.S. Senate run?

  3. Observation: Report does not disclose the level of lease obligations which have increased 2 x during the Winnecke Adm . . .

  4. Our organization will be expanding operations in the mid-west. Evansville has been on the short list for possible site location. We found that Evansville has some great advantages such as three higher education facilities, advanced medical, logistical and the evolving medical school. The disadvantages are cost of energy, infrastructure, quality of life, excessive building code regs, and debt levels. Compliments to this news source, the reported debt levels are staggering. Based on per capita, amount is $5,300. Further review indicates that apparently there is no end in sight concerning additional debt acquisition.

    • The area has many benefits , just not in Vanderburgh Co. or in Vectren service area. Go a little north to Duke or the CO-op power company out of Vincennes. Good workers good interstates, good rail, good training facilities.

  5. The following would be found on page 11 of the Supplemental Report . . .why would only two out of nine council members attend the exit conference to here about the findings of the auditors, especially missing from the meeting is the Finance Chairman McGinn . .

    CONTROLLER
    CITY OF EVANSVILLE
    EXIT CONFERENCE

    The contents of this report were discussed on November 16, 2017, with Lloyd Winnecke, Mayor;
    Russell G. Lloyd, Jr., CPA, Controller; Missy Mosby, President of the Common Council; Jonathan Weaver,
    Common Council member; Jenny Collins, Chief Financial Officer for the Evansville Utilities; Charlie Pride,
    Jr., Controller for the Evansville Utilities; and Steve Schaefer, Deputy Mayor.

  6. The following footnote can be found on page 18 of the report. Please be aware the advancement should be used for police cars, fire trucks, and other capital items. Without the authorization of Council, Russ Lloyd, Jr. transferred the first $12,500,000 into the General Fund NOT the Riverboat Fund and within six months, the money was GONE!!! Please pay attention to the last line in the footnote . . . We wonder if the new Finance Chairman Weaver will be on guard concerning the second installment knowing that old Russ will be up to his normal trickery.

    C. Aztar Indiana Gaming Company, LLC, d.b.a. Tropicana Evansville
    Land Lease Extension with the City of Evansville

    On December 23, 2015, the City through its Evansville Redevelopment Commission signed a
    lease extension with Aztar Indiana Gaming Company, LLC, d.b.a. Tropicana Evansville for an
    additional three 5-year increments lease extension up until December 31, 2055. The lease
    allows for the facilitation of the building of an approximately $50,000,000 land based casino
    development project operated by Tropicana Evansville to replace the riverboat casino
    originally opened in 1995. The lease allows for $25,000,000 in advance lease payments to
    be paid to the City in two lump sums of $12,500,000 each; one was paid December 28, 2015,
    and the second installment to be paid after the successful opening of the land based casino
    on October 20, 2017. The lease advance will be credited against monthly lease payments
    from Tropicana Evansville to the City in equal installments of $2,500,000 annually over a 10-
    year period so the City will receive less in land lease revenues annually going forward.

  7. Why the Adverse Opinion? Contrary to the edict of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) the Indiana General Assembly granted an extension of time to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP) allowing Indiana Cities and Towns to defer until December 31, 2019. Of course, cities and towns could opt in and comply with GAAP which Ft. Wayne, South Bend, and Indy have done now for several years. Why not Evansville??? Well, for instances, old Russ would not be able to regard the $25 million as revenue making us look better than we are . . .in addition, old Russ would have to recognize all of his unpaid bills . . in addition, those advances from the utility dept would have to recorded as a loans not income . . .in other words, the days of manipulation would be OVER . . .and probably the City’s bond rating as well . . .

  8. Two things: Thing one – If Golf courses are such a drain and not self supporting, close one or two certain days of the week and concentrate the golf traffic to certain courses. Golf courses are single use items and having heavy maint. costs. Golf courses make great subdivisions.
    Thing two – If the Dem controlled Council has a Rep. attorney, its an avenue to spread any political blame to both parties. Assuming the attorney has a right wing slant. Mmmm.

  9. Lots of good information for your readers to digest in today’s IIT. Especially sobering is seeing in print the outlandish amounts spent on the downtown stadium, hotel, “medical school”, and main street each year. To make matters worse, unless they are using sleight of hand accounting, there is no way TIF is raising the stated amounts for retiring those bonds.

  10. A $25 Million cash advance from Tropicana and still overdrawing accounts?? How incompetent can this be?

  11. Thanks Obama for commuting the he/she’s 35 year prison sentence after 7 years. Not bad for the act of treason. If it gets 1 vote in any election, it will say tons about the Libtard movement on the left. Unbelievable how it even has the gall to file for election.

  12. A question for those of you who may be in the know…

    At some point does an adverse state audit actually MEAN something? Like, will the state step in and begin to send folks down to assist with the budgetary process, etc.? Or is it just a formal method of stating that our finances are in shambles? I guess I’m not sure what the point of the audit is if there are no actual ramifications to the mismanagement. Kind of like the commercial where the bank is being robbed and the security guy says he’s not going to do anything to stop it, he’s just there to let people know it is happening.

    Can anybody provide any insight on this?

    • I can’t answer your question, but it is a very good question. My guess is that, in reality, it means nothing.

    • To answer your question, no . . the only impact adverse opinions could have on the City would be a down grade on our bonds, i.e. higher interest rates. Wait and see the negative impact on the city’s bond rating when old Russ is force to report on the accrual method of accounting (GAAP).

  13. Another news flash. Did anyone see Sen. Booker grilling the DHS Secretary over the President’s words? He had “tears of rage” and that she was”complicit”. Well, I have my own rage every time I think about the narrow, expensive bike path through one of the shit hole parts of Evansville.
    Now, let us explore 2 16 year olds with guns arrested. Anyone else want to let us police officers do our jobs. Are you tired of the liberals getting their way and basically handcuffing our ability to enforce the law. It is time for all police administrators to step up and demand that if you want law and order, let us do the job!

    • right on……..right on……………TBL…………….look @ commie liberal california highest poverty rate in America…………check out the poop maps for san francisco homeless shitting on the streets……….yep to hate MAGA TRUMP is to hate AMERICA ……………………

      • Actually, real Americans despise Drumpf for his destruction of the American way of life, and Trumpsuckers like you drive intelligent Americans up a wall with your stupidity

        • Where is he wrong? It doesn’t fit your utopian narrative? He is a little rough around the edges, but he’s right. Perhaps if you admit there is a problem, you could work on a solution, rather than whine.

  14. TBL – If you are an actual police officer, you should be fired and prosecuted for your comments and intolerance. Evansville has no place on the force for hidden racists and bigots like you

    • I see nothing racist in TBL’s comments…. it’s time to grow a pair and enforce the law…….EQUALLY, and STERNLY.

    • Please explain where you find racism or bigotry in his comment. Again, you are whining. What is your solution?

Comments are closed.