I wasn’t going to write a blog about our city finances since it is well know about how we came from a deficit of some $2, 000,000.00 back in 1993 to financial solvent city since the year 2000 with funds being place in reserve each year for the rainy day. However since we have an individual who doesn’t even live in our city questioning every financial transaction, making some far fetch claims about our financial well being ,I felt I needed to respond with the truth. We have had a balanced budget each year since the 2000 Fiscal Year thanks to the hard work by our city staff in being good stewards of the public’s money while finding new sources of revenue without raising taxes. The city of Beaumont has no debt on its public facilities. When we needed improvements we paid CASH. We bought the old school site instead of building new buildings. We build a 23 acre Sports Park with volunteer help and some work contracted out over a span of 10 years. I and Council Fox planned out the fields on the back of a Pizza Box after a Little League game. This facility is one of the nicest in the county and is in constant use. We have one of the best Police Departments in the County. We have Paramedics on all our Fire Engines. We provide a low cost after school program for our children. We have provided funds to rehabilitate our library. Most of the improvements at the Noble Creek Park are a result of a unique agreement with that agency to pass through our redevelop funds to fund much needed improvements to this facility. The concerts in the Park are a Class Act with Top Name Performers. Anyone who has lived in Beaumont for over 20 years has seen the well managed growth and the changes made to accommodate it.
No we are not perfect and we do sometimes make mistakes as anyone does. Show me a person who never made a mistake and I will show you an individual who not achieve goals in their life. That being said our city staff has opened up their records for anyone to review as required by law. We actually go above and beyond and put our Budget, Our Employee MOU’s, Ordinances etc, on our website. We cannot put everything as it would be cost prohibitive. An audit is done each year by a Certified Public Accountant Firm.
If a member of the public or a citizen of Beaumont has a question about our city finances, I would suggest that they contact the city manger first for an explanation. If they don’t like the answer they are welcomed to come to the city council meeting and ask a question. We will do our best to answer the question right then or refer it to staff for an appropriate answer.
