Ledger-Enquirer from Columbus, Georgia • 11

Columbia In tiuircr Wednesday Morning December 24 1975 VALLEY TODAY I Ti Commissioners ussmg over inancing Phenix City Overspen Expenditures PHENIX City Money problems caused bickering on several issues among city com missioners Tuesday Mayor rank Roberts presented 'a written statement charging that the city is suffer The first was beyond the control of the city but the se cond was done with reckless abandon'despite warnings as there were no Roberts said The mayor asked for a written report from Comp troller Stanton Beedy to answer questions on school ap propriations and money budgeted lieu of from the Phenix Natural Gas Commissioner George Ivy made a motion that city employes and all department heads with city cars except the chief of police fire chief and public works director no cars He said the public could up with where the cars are" With discussion moving to the city cudget City Ad ministrator Jack Kinney reported that even after dis cussing possible cuts with department heads the pro jected budget deficit may run up to $434000 longer be allowed to drive One spectator suggested city those cars home decals be placed on all city The motion died because it owned vehicles including com received no second but was revitalized before the end of the three hour meeting It passed until two department heads the revenue agent and parks and recreation director asked if it meant they no longer had to answer night calls Commissioners repealed the vote and took the matter under study Ivy also recommended that commissioners give up the use By SANDY SIMMONS ing from mis Enquirer Staff Writer His statement was a reaction to a city audit report presented to com missioners two days ago Roberts said the city is suf fering from inflation generated by the economy and inflation generated by gross mis management By SANDY SIMMONS Enquirer Staff Writer PHENIX CITY The audit report presented to Phenix City commissioners Sunday showed a $52075 difference between revenues received by the city and expenditures The expenditures outweigh ed the incoming revenues last year According to the audit report by Duncan and Ninas the city actually took in $4 009479 compared to an an ticipated budgeted amount of $4247608 The city spent $4 061554 compared to a budgeted amount of $4247 166 In their report the auditors said feel the budget was not prepared in the proper manner in that revenues to be derived from special sources were not properly identified and the probability of their realizaiion was not auditors also said effort should be made to budget expenditures to match realizable revenues without the use of short or long term borrowing" The auditors found however the accounting department has started a ledger for all personal property owned by the city to be com pleted by this fiscal year recommend that a real property ledger be established as soon as the personal proper ly ledger is completed" they said The auditors further noted that the budget for the current fiscal year had not been com pleted recommend that a budget calendar be adopted so that on Oct 1 of each year the budget can be reviewed by the commissioners and adopted at that time We feel that with in flation as we have the budget should be ready for adoption on Oct 1 and the department heads and commissioners should he notified when a department is about to go over their According to the recently amended and policemen's retirement act the auditor said two chief emerituses (one for each department) are currently over retirement age 65 but their positions are considered ac tive these positions are legal ly considered active the departments in our opinion are in violation of the amended retirement act" the auditors said the auditors also recommended that recommen dations made in September by a committee appointed by the mayor to study the financial outlook of the city "be studied and some action be taken on these of their automobiles will ing to give up my car as city commissioner and willing to let the police department use it" he said Agreeing to do the same Commissioner John Anthony said his car has low mileage and still has its original set of tires "I understand the mayor has changed two sets of Anthony said Roberts said when he served as commissioner he never rode in a city car or ever needed to but since he became mayor he sometimes attends three or four functions a day Prior to the present com terms only the mayor had a municipal car have to do some more Kinney said department heads will have to get their pencils sharper than had them before" Kinney said however department cuts may not trim the budget down enough and commission action will be needed to either increase revenues or cut services faced with inade quate revenues to meet our Kinney said Ivy said the city is faced with a $30000 cut in federal revenue sharing money this year and a $100000 employe insurance bill made man datory this year by the Alabama legislature Airport Panel Hoping Employe Ideal or Revenue Take Off Dec 31 1980 Requests Still Coming In or Salvation Army Aid Coroner Paulk Asks or Salary Hike Banks Closing It 's Still Ringing $20000 less revenue for that period according to Asst Air port Manager Al McDill McDill explained the air linos which are bulk users of local fuel have simply been By JIM HOUSTON Enquirer Staff Writer By RANDY PHILLIPS Enquirer Staff Writer Shoppers who have waited to the last minute to buy Christmas gifts better check early today to see if they have enough cash on hand Columbus banks will close today at 2 pm and Phenix City banks at noon In both cities banks will resume regular hours riday The National Bank of ort Benning will be closed Christmas Day By ANNIE LONO Enquirer Staff Writer dinarily difficult due to the strike for persons to change airlines in Atlanta to reach their destinations he said Many airline bookings from Columbus had to be canceled because the airlines simply could not accommodate the people he said With the United strike now over he added the problem will be eas ed somewhat Commission Chairman Robert Worden expressed op would Coroner James Paulk serve another four years at his present $6000 a year salary Paulk whose term expires Dec 31 1976 made the state ment to reporters after asking Columbus Council to more than double the salary to $12500 Council declined to do that but several members offered support for a resolution next week asking the Georgia Genral Assembly to approve the pay raise Though City Attorney Len nie Davis assured them they had the authority some Coun cilmen doubted the city can set pay for the coroner whose duties are spelled out in state law Others were skeptical over Paulk's claims the office is now a full time job or questioned whether any salary hike shouldn't wait until the next fiscal year to next term Traditionally county cor oners have been on meager stipends because their duties were considered insufficient to keep them busy full time That was the case when he tlmisin that a buildup of an ad ditional 6600 soldiers at ort Benning in early 1976 will cause an Increase in passengers for that vear Worden noted the decrease be under in the total but over for needy families parties for underprivileged children and older citizens and gifts for adults and children in hospital and other institutions 1 took office 1 1 years ago Paulk told reporters Tuesday but since then a increase in coroner's cases con troversial unexplained or un witnessed deaths made it impossible to supplement his income with outside jobs Since July he has worked full time at being coroner which takes 45 hours a week he estimated excluding night and weekend calls fewer persons boarded commercial aircraft and lower gasoline sales were reported at Columbus Metropolitan Air port during 1975 but the Columbus Airport Commission is optimistic that 1976 will bring better tidings Boardings through Monday at the local airport totaled 118416 persons and another 12144 are expected to travel from the city by air before the first of the year Total emplanements for 1975 are ex Columbus it has been extraor pected to reach 130560 down 12304 from 1974 Commissioners were also in lormed that fuel sales a significant source of income for the airport were off during the July October accounting period During those four months the airport sold 174 406 gallons less aviation fuel than it did during the same period in 1974 The decrese has resulted in On Tuesday afternoon he added there should be enough toys to satisfy requests for the rest of the day trying to wind the thing down now We want a great surplus on hand after Christmas dinner is also part of the holiday program or families who have already requested assistance a check has been sent to them to purchase items from stores This applies mainly to perishable items such as meats Taylor said The Salvation Army has a supply of can goods on hand course we could always use a donation of food" he added or transients and other travelers the Salvation Army will be serving Christmas dinner at the Valley Rescue Mission 2901 2nd Ave Taylor is proud of both the volunteers and Army workers who have manned the nine kettles around town standing in front of the red white and blue booths ringing the SalvationArmy bells Two other kettles in town at Gaylord's and at Traffic Cir cle Shopping Center have been designated for Phenix City Taylor said Maj William Travis head of the Phenix City Salvation Ar Columbus consolidated government's 2000 strong work force would be an mix" of blacks and whites men and women in all pay grades by 1985 under a propos ed affirmative action plan sub mitted Tuesday The proportions are based on the number from each group available or qualifiable for every job category in the current labor market or most city departments the ideal mix is defined as 29 per cent white female 41 per cent white male 15 per cent black female and 15 per cent black male In the police fire and departments and courts the figures are 38 per cent white female 35 per cent white male 14 per cent black female and 13 per cent black male Required by the federal government the anti discrimination plan was presented to Columbus Council for review Tuesday Initial reaction was muted Black Councilman Robert Wright who recently criticiz ed city officials for on the draft plan said Tuesday he's glad it's finally been released But he added the plan some refinement" think it needs a little more specific information about how going to reach our goals and Wright said The 92 page document is buttressed by tables showing present employe breakdown for each job and how much turnover or new hiring is need ed to achieve the desired As expected the statistics indicate blacks are now over represented in city government as a whole but heavily in low pay jobs like public works laborer ound to represented workforce represented in low echolon secretarial jobs are white women To correct the present im balances the plan does not set immediate hiring Instead the plan calls for a gradual process of equaliza tion based on expected turn over fair hiring firing and promoting practices training programs and extensive advertising of new job oppor tunities among under represented groups However Taylor said at least 100 more families have called since 350 were approved after the application period they're still coming he said So far the Army has been able to take care of families who have applied Last month a spokesman said the Salvation Army was receiving more than 100 requests a week for help double thp number two vears aso The Salvation Army Christmas program includes dinners my said its kettle appeal has been fine this year although the for needy families parties for underprivileged children and mail response has been rather slow by late tomorrow we expect to have much of the he said In addition civic groups have dressed 350 dolls in bicenten nial costumes to be distributed to needy families Taylor said practically all the toys at the Salvation The clink and clank of dimes nickles and quarters striking have been given away the new toys are gone" the Salvation black copper kettle is music to the ears he said of workers and volunteers who man tne stations However! the clinks are a little slow this year as shoppers pause momentarily before the black vessel to deposit some change Columbus Salvation Army director Maj Leonard Taylor ad mits that now on the eve of Christmas collections are ning behind" need about $6000 to have enough to meet the he said The $6000 is also the amount needed to reach the $40000 holiday goal 'The money is used for emergencies in the winter season as well as the Army's Christmas program Taylor said The organization began accepting applications for Christ mas assistance for families Nov 17 and planned for all applications to be received by Nov 29: Staff Photo by Roger Grigg Maj Leonard Tavlor Says Contributions Running Sloiv A tion fuel sales was offset by an Senate approval will earmark increase in airline rental and $3 million for for landing fees Seventy per cent Ibe five year period ending of the total decrease on the Dec 31 1980 Always Goes' a person doing a wonderful job around Columbus and I think everyone should know about it She is Mrs Drucillia Crawford A cosmetologist for many years Mrs Crawford is giving her service twice a month free to groom the patients at Hamilton House Nursing Home Many times Mrs Crawford pays others to help her Sometimes Mrs Sadie Toney will go with her Mrs Crawford is never too busy or too tired She always goes or Christmas she has collected more than a hundred gifts of stockings scarfs cigarettes snuff etc to give every patient at the home a gift Mrs Crawford is a great church and community worker She is always lending' a hand to the needy May God continue to bless her MRS ROSIE MCBRIDE 2736 Spenola St Columbus 31906 NOTE: If you know of an individual who has gone out of his way to help another please write us about it be happy to report the good deed in The Enquirer calling our project Helping and only YOU can help Address your letter to: People Helping People The Columbus Enquirer PO Box 711 Columbus Ga 31902 Proposed By RANDY PHILLIPS Enquirer Staff Writer balance sheet is attributable to depreciation expense which is not true revenue expenditure he added 4 The chairman said new airport appropriations taking less fuel than in prior in revenue due to fewer avia bill now headed for expected years primarily as part of an economy policy enacted by each airline ewer flights and the impact of the United and TWA strikes also affected passenger board ings in Columbus Manager Bill Giddings told the commis sion While it has not been dif ficult for persons to fly out of I I I Him Ww' 1 li I til 'I 'H II' I 1 11 1 "4 a'W Wai lit 1 5" HtSH lli ISO I '3 Early 9 i 1 8 A 1 7 Two Men Rob 7 Eleven Store Two bandits took an un determined amount of money from the 7 Eleven ood Store 5538 Luna Drive at 7:20 pm Tuesday Ruby Daper who was managing the store at the time said two black males robbed her at gunpoint One of the suspects is described as 18 22 130 lbs with medium complexion clean shaven wearing a dark knit toboggan a black length coat dark leather pants and armed with a small hand gun The other suspect was 18 22 125 lbs with medium complexion clean shaven with a tan stocking over his head and wearing a light tan or brown short leather jacket SANDRA STEPHENS only Most local employes will' have Christmas Day off with some enjoying an even longer holiday period City and state employes will have both Thursday and ri day off riday is being given in lieu of George Washington's birthday as a holiday by the state The Columbus Post Office will be closed Thursday only Southern Bell Telephone will be closed Christmas day also South Central Bell (Phenix Ci ty) will be closed a half day to day and all day Thursday Both Alabama Power and Georgia Power will be closed today and Thursday The Columbus Gas Light Co will be closed Thursday only Most industries and mi'ls will be closed for the holidays Swift Textiles closed Satur day and will resume operations Dec 28 WestPoint Pepperell Inc closed Tuesday night and will resume Sunday at II pmq Mfr I 1.