UPDATED 26 May 2016: New Information about TCUD

So, last week Bob and I met with Matt Young from TCUD to get a better understanding of this organization.

Before I get started on what we learned: The Fri, 20 May 2016, issue of the Tunica Times stated: “TCUD employees work directly for Tunica County for the first time in the utility’s history, making them eligible to participate in  state retirement.”  This is not correct.  TCUD employees are separate from the County and are employed by TCUD. 

On to what we learned:

TCUD was created through Local and Private Legislation.  If you would like to look this up, you would be looking for House Bill #1758 during the 1996 Regular Session of our State Legislature.  TCUD is an entity unto itself.

In the late 1990’s, the sewer and water for the Casinos was handled by Riverbend of Mississippi, Inc., a private engineering firm that was under contract to run the Utility District.  The Casinos requested that the Public Service Commission regulate Robinsonville Commerce Utilities.

It was during this time period that the Board of Supervisors, (Dunn, Henderson, Battle, Jr., Tucker and Pegram) asked TCUD to take in and upgrade water and sewer in White Oak, Dundee, Hollywood, Robinsonville, etc.

There was a $6,200,000* bond that was issued in 2004 to pay for the Tunica Cutoff system upgrades and other system upgrades in Robinsonville.  There was also a $2,391,339 loan authorized through Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) yto pay for the system upgrades in the Dundee and Hollywood areas.  These upgrades were requested by the Board of Supervisors therefore, this bond and this loan are the obligations of the County government.  Each year, the County pays debt service on the bond of around $500k. 

*The records for this bond are in the Chancery Clerk’s office.  There you will find that the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay this bond.  Those of us who were not privy to this information, me included, did not understand why our County was paying the debt service for TCUD.  Now we know.  The above named Supervisors obligated us to this debt.

  

Riverbend of Mississippi, Inc., the management company which was owned by John Almond and Mike Young, was contracted to manage TCUD.  This contract ran out 31 Dec 2015 and was not renewed.  Up until this time, TCUD was paying $10k per month to the Riverbend of Mississippi.

At the last Board of Supervisors’ Meeting, the County Administrator, led the public to believe that TCUD was behind on their payments with MDEQ.  This is not true.  This note was and is the responsibility of the County because the Board of Supervisors requested that TCUD upgrade services in Dundee and Hollywood.  The Board requested it.  The County owes it.

The County also requested sewers at the Cut-Off to the tune of about $4 million.  We pay for this too.

It can be said that the County had money….lots and lots of money…when these projects were requested.  However, in my opinion, these former Boards of Supervisors obligated the citizens of Tunica County without their knowledge.  And, while they were obligating us to pay for these upgrades, they built the airport, the museum, River Park, the golf course, and the arena without one feasibility study. They just built and built and built.  They didn't even wait to see if just one of these projects would be profitable before they were on to the next.  Ugh!!!

Here’s an analogy that might make this more clear:  Say, I asked Bob to purchase a new car for me and I tell him that I will make the payments.  Then I go and spend my money on yarn and fabric.  Hmmm, no money for the car payments. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Additionally, the County’s gaming revenue started decreasing in 2007 and the people we elected didn’t make the proper adjustments.  That is, reign in expenses and increase taxes.

I’m wondering to what else our elected officials have obligated us?

  

Two Supervisors’ Meetings ago, there was a discussion about the $700k Daniel Farm’s note at First Security.  This is for water and sewer for this subdivision.  USDA has approved the contract with TCUD in which $703,000 is in the form of a loan, which the County has agreed to maintain, and $537,000 is in the form of a grant.  These two amounts total $1,240,000.  There is a Resolution by the County to repay $703,000 of this cost.  Heads up on this one: I don’t think there is a guarantee of construction of a subdivision after the sewer and water installation is completed.

There has been too much confusion about reimbursement monies from FEMA following the 2011 flood.

There was a FEMA $300k disaster reimbursement that was due to the Road Department.  We already know that we will not be getting reimbursed for this expense because the former Road Manager did not follow FEMA requirements. 

Then there is an additional amount of $289k, also a FEMA disaster reimbursement, that is due to TCUD.  This amount represents flood related work at Goldstrike, Harrah's and the Cutoff.  The only way TCUD would have been eligible for this reimbursement was for the request to be co-signed by the County.  The County agreed to co-sign.  The $289k was received and was deposited in the County’s General Fund.   From my understanding, the County Administrator kept the reimbursement and is using this money to offset funds that have been advanced to TCUD to help with their past due bills.  I think this action is wrong and doesn’t leave a clear paper trail for money from the Federal Government. 

Additionally, “after the flood of 2011 many of the streets in Nelwin needed repair.  TCUD, having just installed the sewer lines in the road, took the responsibility of paving the roads to repair them to the condition prior to the flood.  TCUD elected to use the Road Department to perform this work since they have a contract price with various paving contractors in the mid south.”  TCUD knew that the County had received the FEMA and therefore, did not reimburse the Road Department for the cost of this repair ($85k).  In my opinion, this creates another paper trail problem.  The County needs to give TCUD their $289k and TCUD needs to write a check for $85k to the Road Department.  Then decisions can be made on their own merit as it relates to helping TCUD with their past due bills.

And now we get down to the $87k TCUD is requesting to fund employees’ 401k accounts at Hancock Bank.  In 2012, the TCUD Board decided to stop matching the 401k employee contributions to their 401k retirement in an effort to save money.  I think this is so wrong.  Before the County pays this money, I believe TCUD should attempt to collect this money from TCUD Board Member’s bonds.

Folks, we are never going to get out of this hole that our elected officials have put us in if every time we turn around we find that we have been obligated to more expense without our knowledge.  And now, the Tunica County Board of Supervisors voted to meet at 9a on the first and third Mondays each month.  I don’t know about you but I think we need more transparency not less.

Hello Supervisors: You serve at the pleasure of the people; not the other way around.

Looking for a Great Deal

Friday Early Bird: 5/20/2016 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Saturday: 5/21/2016 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Canal Park Houses

3rd Annual

Multi-Family Garage and Yard Sale

Shop for Household and Lawn Items

Follow the posted signs

"See You There"

Starting 1 Dec 2016....

If you are a salaried employee making less than $47,476.00 per year, you will be entitled to overtime pay or compensatory time off.  Thank you President Obama.

You should have been there...

Ugh!!!  TCUD again.  What a mess.

Matt Young, the head of TCUD, addressed the Supervisors and asked for $87,000 to fund the employees' 401K accounts.  There was quite a discussion but no one...that's right no one asked why the former management company didn't fund these accounts in the first place.  Geez...

Somebody has got to get control of TCUD before anymore money is given to them.  TCUD is behind on their bills and the County is constantly having to send more money their way.  Tonight the Board approved $36,000 to bring a $100,000 loan current.  And get this, during the discussion of the $87,000 mentioned above, the County Administrator suggested that TCUD deposit into the County's General Fund what is surplus each month.  What????  There is no surplus.  What was stated in the report was that expenses for Apr 2016 were $60,000 less than what was received.  That is a month to month on paper only.  And you all wonder why I am so upset that Adrian McKay is our County Administrator?  He wasn't even a good Comptroller.

Before this Board votes on 6 Jun 2016 to give TCUD $87,000, you need to make sure this money is not really owed by the former management company.

Now, let's talk about the $300,000 Tunica County was supposed to receive from FEMA after the 2011 flood.  Last week, I was talking with a TCUD Board Member and was told that this money had been received and had been given to the Road Dept.  This is not true.  I have talked with several people and these are the facts: The former Road Manager did not fully comply with FEMA regulations pertaining to the 2011 Flood.  Therefore, we lost out on this reimbursement and this money was not received by Tunica County nor was it received by the Road Dept.  If someone else can show me otherwise, sing out.

Now, in my discussions with "several people", I did learn that TCUD owes the Road Dept. $85,000 for work they performed on TCUD's behalf.  Add that to your stack of bills TCUD.

And one more thing, whoever is spreading the story about Michael Thompson having "messed up this County" is spreading lies.  This County's financial problems stem from decisions made by anyone who served on the Tunica County Board of Supervisors before 31 Dec 2011.  That's right, your friends, your neighbors, your relatives and your fellow farmers.  You elected them and you are responsible for your vote.

Same old stuff, expecting different results

There is a Board of Supervisors' Meeting tonight at 5p.  Not many Tunicans showed up at the last meeting.  The audience seems to be getting smaller and smaller.  What happened to all of those candidates for Beat 2?  Still not showing up.

There was an appointment with former head of the Clinics, Dr. Gene Osborn.  It seems that there was a meeting held with Osborn, someone from Methodist and James Dunn.  It also seemed that none of the other Supervisors were informed or invited to the meeting.  So, why didn't the other four Supervisors call him on it?  Guess Dunn thinks he is the County Administrator.

So...Osborn's presentation was to get approval to be paid to run a survey about medical and health needs for our County.  Maybe we need this survey and maybe we don't.  What bothers me about this deal is not necessarily the survey but the person the Board keeps hiring to help fix our financial dilemma with our clinics.  Osborn is the same person who ran our clinics and couldn't make them profitable.  He's the same person who was called back to train the two present managers.  So, why do we have to keep turning to this person for help?  My take is that this is just another way for Osborn to earn money from Tunica County.  I sure hope that this survey will yield some actionable information and that the Supervisors will act accordingly.  I'm not holding my breath.

During the above presentation and discussion, both Supervisors Nickson and Williams asked questions and then voted against hiring Osborn to conduct this survey.  Dunn asked Nickson if he had a better idea.  I have an idea.  Has anyone run the numbers to find out what monies could be saved by closing one of the clinics?  How about trying to sell them?

Here's another question I have: Methodist is required under their Certificate of Need to provide some resources to Tunica County.  Will this survey satisfy their certificate of need requirement?  Hmm, now let me think: Survey or Service for the people to Tunica County?  I pick services the people could use.  Dunn, Johnson and Pegram picked Survey.  That dear friends is your vote at work.

Oh, and your County Administrator has yet to comply with the Freedom of Information letters from January.  Dunn said it was the policy of the Board of Supervisors to comply.  I'm not going to go away and you should know this by now.

Community Event Thu, 12 May 2016

Why cook when you can bring home fish from the

Tunica Lions Club Fish Fry

Thursday, 12 May 2016

5:00 PM 'til 7:00 PM

Eat In or Carry Out

at the Lions/ VFW Building on Hospital Street

$10.00 a plate in advance

$12.00 at the door

To get your ticket call: Jimmy Boyd: 357-8472

Water needed for Flint, Michigan

Tunica 10 Point Coalition is collecting donations of bottled water to be sent to Flint, Michigan.

This is their announcement:

Dear Potential Donor:

The Tunica 10 Point Coalition, Inc. in conjunction with local organizations are sponsoring a "Water for Flint" drive through May 5, 2016.

The Flint Michigan families are suffering from lead poisoning in their water and are in desperate need of bottled water for life sustainability.  In an effort to aid the need of the people in Flint, we are asking the Tunica County local government, businesses, churches and individuals to donate bottled water to this cause.

Cases of bottled water can be delivered to each of the four (4) Recreation Centers at any time.  Monetary donations are accepted and can be delivered to any Tunica 10 Point Coalition affiliate.  We ask that any monetary donations be in the form of a check made payable to Tunica 10 Point Coalition, Inc.

We hope that Tunica County citizens can unify to help the people of Flint, Michigan in their time of need.

If any additional information is needed, please call:

Evelyn Hubbard: 901-569-8240
Billy Willis: 662-357-8513

Thank you in advance for your donations and act of kindness and generosity.

18 Apr Board of Supervisors' Meeting

This is the report the Transparency Committee filed with the Board of Supervisors on the above date. There is more to be said.  So, look at the notes below.  There is a BOSs' Meeting tonight at 5p.

18 Apr 2016 Board of Supervisors’ Meeting @ 5p

Thank you for the appointment this evening.

Since the last Board meeting I have asked 3 of the Supervisors to take another look at the hiring of Tim Hale.  It has been brought to my attention that Hale does not have the 20 years experience that you and the public were told he had.  If you remember correctly, it was this experience that you believed warranted the $47K salary rather than the $43K salary.  I hope that you all have asked the appropriate questions and gotten your answers.  As a woman, I object to a man being paid more for the same job that a woman is doing for less money.  If you have found that Hale does not have the 20 years experience that was reported to you and the public, I am asking that you reduce his salary to what we paid Deliah when she worked in this capacity.

Also since the last Board meeting, I have been told by one Supervisor that the 2014 Audit has been completed and this work was done by Deliah Vaughn our Comptroller.  This is as it should be: the Audit is the responsibility of the Comptroller.  I’m left to wonder why the 2014 Audit was not done by Adrian McKay when he was the Comptroller.  It seems to me that everyone was so quick to pin this omission on Michael Thompson when it was clearly the responsibility of the Comptroller. (See Note 1 below.)

On 14 Jan 2016, we hand delivered several requests for Public Records to the Board, Rechelle Siggers and Adrian McKay.  We followed-up with this Board on 28 Jan 2016.  I have had several conversations with your Attorney about the status of these requests.  To make a long story short, the County Administrator is now demanding that we pay labor and copy charges for this information including his own resume.  At this point, I need to ask: What are you all hiding from the public? (Note 2 below.)

On one of these requests, a claim for $376,368 is without documentation and the public has a right to know what this money covered.  This is from the 2009-2010 fiscal year and we have been asking since 2011.

And one last thing: at your last meeting three of you voted against continuing with the medical insurance presented to you by Nick Floyd and Associates.  Nick Floyd is our Agent-of-Record.  During his presentation he told you that he had already looked at other companies and that United Healthcare still offered the best coverage for Tunica County. 

Supervisors Dunn, Johnson and Pegram had until 5p on 5 Apr 2016 to change your vote.  You didn’t and your decision cost us $149,852.  As I understand it, the three of you have decided to ask for bids for our medical insurance.  Unless I missed something, I have not seen your request for bids advertised in the Tunica Times.(Note 3 below.)

Note 1: I've looked at the 2014 Audit very briefly.  I've been looking at these reports over the years and have never seen so many exception before.  Except for an entry by Michael Thompson that was entered in the wrong year, the errors are directly attributable to our former Comptroller Adrian McKay.  This is scary folks.

Additionally, some of the responses from the auditing firm seem a bit too familiar to me.  Perhaps it is time to get another firm to do our audits.

And, the Sheriff and the Circuit Clerk were again written up for the same thing...year after year.

Note 2:  After having delivered this report, James Dunn stated that it is Board Policy to comply with all Open Record Requests.  Let's see what happens tonight.

Note 3: I found out at the meeting that there was a letter sent by Nick Floyd and Associates giving the BOSs another bit of time to decide on their medical insurance.  Ultimately, the insurance from Nick Floyd and Associates was approved with employees paying 5% on their own premium.  (Pegram voted no.)  I believe I heard Michael Johnson say something about he didn't appreciate Nick making his presentation and then expecting them to decide on the spot.  This is a part of the ACA (Obamacare) law.  It is my understanding that this was put into the law to prevent insurance companies from increasing premiums when they already have a company's business.  That is to say, keep the same costs or look elsewhere and pay for an increase.  Michael, I will say here what I have said to your face:  Had you been involved with County government and attended meetings in more than a cursory fashion, you would have known this.  

Later in the meeting, there was quite a discussion between Dunn and Nickson about the BOSs voting to bid on insurance.  Dunn accused Nickson of misleading the public.  While it is true that the BOSs did vote to bid insurance, this action was not followed through by advertising for bids as was stated in the report above.  It is not enough to vote at the table, you must also follow through.  Further, Nick Floyd is our Agent-of-Record and he already told us he had investigated other companies including the beloved Cigna.  Why is it that Nick Floyd is being held to a different standard than Gordon Burke.  By the way, as the Agent-of-Record, Burke needs to present to Floyd before he presents to the Board.  IMHO.

Waiting: I am waiting to hear if Supervisors are going to investigate the Tim Hale situation to find out the truth.