Surprise, AZ News blog

The City of Surprise governs under State Statutes, rather then a charter. The council decided that we, without the citizens participating, would operate under the manager-mayor form of government.

It appears that Mayor Lyn Truitt by making decisions without council approval is headed in this direction.

Luckily we had a short fall in last years budget, other wise this council would have had 2.2 million that they could have spent, any way they wanted, without our approval.

Maybe this is the reason that they are ticked.
Staff, management and council have been working hand in hand in moving our money around, using transfers with numbers that we could not know, without going to the city hall, consent items without any discussion. Why do you think they put so much money in the Council’s Contingency Fund?

Before the end of last year’s budget the mayor and council was told by the manager to vote for a project, which they could later change. I believed at the time that this was done so that money was not transferred into the 2010 budget.

We elect the Mayor and Council to watch over the City affairs, not the Manager or Staff.

It goes to show us that the City of Surprise has no leadership, what if we had a real crisis.
Amazingly Mayor Lyn Truitt took this Item out of the consent items, saying that other council members could probably address it better then he could.

You say correctly that Councilman Richard Alton was rebuffed when he wanted to look into the way the city finances were managed, what you neglected to say was that he was rebuffed by his own Mayor, Lyn Truitt.

You say correctly that Councilman Richard Alton was rebuffed when he wanted to look into the way the city finances were managed, what you neglected to say was that he was rebuffed by his own Mayor, Lyn Truitt.

As I see it Bob is right.  Raz & Co. are going after certain posters’ throats when something is posted they don’t agree with.  Don’t you think crap like that pushes people into doing or saying something they would not ordinarily say?  Who died and left them in control?  If this is their forum, why don’t they just prove that fact and then some of us will probably just go away cause there sure as hell isn’t any reason to stay on it.  Dispute or debate the written message but attempting to find out people’s identity or to attack them, in a case like this where Bob is a known person, just as you are to many, or Mike Woodard, or even Brian Lameira, is not cool nor is it justified.  I’d like to know where the ethics or civility comes in — I don’t see any.

Oh come on there BigS, we all can read.  It’s the methods to the madness.  And please, don’t be acting so “surprized”.  Nope, I’ve been thinking for quite a while that I like Bob’s persistence and since he objected more loudly than usual, thought I’d join in for support.  That is what it’s all about now isn’t it, not lying down to get stomped?  It’s all about tenacity and then some.

1)      How much Stimulus (ARRA) money has the City of Surprise received so far?
A: Surprise has been awarded $3,185,120 directly from the various ARRA-funded grant opportunities.  This total includes funds for the Neighborhood Services Program, Community Development Block Grant, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, Congregate Meal Program and 2 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants.  Several of these programs are reimbursement style grants, thus funds are reimbursed when the City reports the allowed expenditures to the appropriate federal agency.
2)      Do we have an approximate idea how much we will receive?
A: In addition to the $3,185,120 referenced above, we have also applied for an additional $9,000,000 in ARRA funds for projects.  These additional applications are to finance continuance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Economic Development Administration grant to finance updates to the TechCelerator Complex (old City Hall) and the Assistance to Firefighters Station Construction Grant to finance construction for a permanent Station #304.  We anticipate other opportunities for applying for ARRA funds in the near future as well and have staff continually monitoring opportunities that would fit the projects that Surprise has in a “shovel ready” status, which also have the local funds available for the required fund matches under the ARRA program.
3)      When you vote to build these projects, are they identified as being sourced thru the ARRA or Federal money?
A: Under ARRA and appropriate federal guidelines, our Budget Department and all City Departments that are in receipt of ARRA funds for a project utilize a separate accounting code for each individual ARRA funded project.  By doing so, we will be able to clearly identify how the funds are being spent, how funds are designated for usage and be able to submit our expenditure reports with ease on a quarterly basis.  In addition to the requirement of submitting quarterly reports to the federal government for ARRA funded projects, our City follows the OMB A-133 requirement for local government agencies, which requires an independent auditor to complete an annual audit of our budgets and expenditures.  A copy of the annual A-133 report is submitted to the federal government and to the State to ensure full compliance on the usage of federal funds, regardless of if they are ARRA or non-ARRA federal funds.

Please be advised that there will be an additional scrutiny by the federal government of all ARRA funds being awarded and spent in Arizona, in addition to approximately a dozen other states selected by the federal government.  Therefore, the City anticipates further review and feedback from the federal government about our ARRA expenditures beyond the general reporting requirements.  Because of internal “checks and balances” put in place internally to monitor, distribute and report all ARRA funds, we are comfortable in knowing that we will be able to fully comply with all reviews of our ARRA projects. 

Let me know if you have any questions, 

Lyn 

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