Benton Harbor City Commissioners have approved an emergency transfer of $800,000 from the city’s income tax fund to the general fund to ensure regular bills can be paid.
At Monday’s regular meeting, commissioners held a lengthy debate on the merits of City Manager Alex Little’s request. He warned that every day expenses can’t be met at this time due to “tremendous legal bills,” an ongoing deficit at the water plant, and rising insurance costs, among other things.
However, Commissioner Sharon Henderson was skeptical, saying she hasn’t even seen a proposed budget for the new fiscal year yet. She, and some others, sensed something wrong.
“If I ain’t got the money in the bank, I’m not spending it,” Henderson said. “We should not have a blank check to do whatever. And I don’t think that’s happening. I think there’s a lot of projects and things that have come up, but we should not be operating outside of the budget.”
Henderson made her vote of support contingent on an agreement from Little to present the next budget at a committee meeting this week. He said the budget is being finalized now — by him personally because he lacks staff to do it — and agreed to the presentation. Therefore, Henderson voted for the transfer, as did Mayor Pro Tem Duane Seats, who summed up the entire conundrum.
“I agree that we have to pay the bills because what’s gonna happen is, we’ve been in this situation before where we went into receivership because we were not able to pay the bills,” Seats said.
Seats said the income tax isn’t a golden goose, but it can be used in a situation like this.
Commissioner Ethel Clark Griffin called the situation “a mess,” complaining that she as a commissioner often can’t get answers. Little said he’s doing the best he can with limited staff and dwindling city resources. However, he said things are getting fixed a piece at a time.
The transfer was approved on a six to three vote with Commissioners Clark Griffin, Emma Kinnard, and Juanita Henry voting no.
