Board meeting - again? Will it be legal?

The Board of Supervisors will have a “Special Meeting” this Monday night, November 23, 2015 beginning at 5:00 p.m.  Let’s hope the meeting is quick as it should be – we’ll want to get to the Lions Club Sight Banquet on time for a great steak dinner and the official Tunica kick off to the holiday season.

It appears that only one item will lawfully be considered – closing for the Thanksgiving Holidays!  Another item is listed on the agenda “Executive Session.”  However, by not disclosing anything more than that, this could be an illegal topic for the meeting.  We are informed that there are some strict laws governing executive sessions.  To stop illegal executive sessions the citizens might have to take the battle to Jackson, Mississippi and the Mississippi Ethics Commission.  Let’s hope not but we all know how the Board ignores the law.

Rumor is that after the elections, the current Supervisors now want to start settling some of the litigation caused by their illegal acts.  Let us be clear – illegal acts are illegal.  Settling these matters with taxpayers’ money will NOT end this issue.  Any supervisor that voted in favor of illegal budgets and illegal taxes, and in favor of cutting off funding to the Schools and Town should be held personally accountable for their actions.  There is at least $400,000 of bond money available on those Supervisors bonds.  If they have personal assets over their $100,000 bond, those too can be used to repay the citizens for their illegal and intentional acts.  Folks, admitting you are wrong now will not fix your problems!

Let’s all go to the meeting and demand some true accountability.  Are these Supervisors finally ready to admit that their policies and plans failed? 

Maybe the Executive Session is about the audit that seems as though it cannot be performed.  Who really knows? 

 

Federal Investigation Requested

The Tunica County Democratic Executive Committee has failed to perform it duties and to follow court orders.  It appears the DEC has attempted to manipulate the election process.  There is no doubt who the DEC wants to be elected.  Some DEC members are now saying, “Well, if you don’t like it, you should step up.”  For the record, the DEC members attended meetings and sought out these positions.  They sought out the responsibility and were elected by other members of the Democratic party.  The DEC had and continues to have an obligation to the citizens.  This is a serious responsibility.  Failing to do your duty and abusing the position should result in fines and sanctions.  However, intentional attempts to manipulate the process should result in federal criminal charges.

We are calling on the FBI and US Attorney’s office to initiate a federal investigation into the intentional and deliberate attempts of the DEC and some of its members to illegally manipulate the Tunica County elections.  Filing an appeal and then having no follow up and not even paying the appeal fee appears to be an attempt to keep Mr. Jones out of the election.  Not following a court order – was an attempt to keep Mr. Jones out of the election.  Not giving Mr. Pegram notice of any of the litigation proceedings was an attempt to make sure he didn’t act to protect his rights.  Why didn’t Mr. Pegram get notice from the DEC of the mistakes and issues?  I think we all know the answer to this. 

All members of the DEC need to be preserving all of their text messages, emails, computer search histories, voice mails, etc.  All of these will need to be analyzed as part of a potential criminal investigation to see what was really going on.  Strange how the DEC members do nothing but complain about the Court system until they think it could give them another chance.  Some folks need to be consistent.  Sheriff Hamp was able to identify, investigate and have prosecuted voter fraud before – maybe he can help with this.

Mr. Pegram won the election even having to fight against the DEC and all of the power of the current Administration.  The people are demanding change.  The voters want better than what they have had for the last four years.  Of course everyone hopes that Mr. Pegram will stand against our county violating state law and illegal levying and collecting taxes.  Mr. Pegram will stand for accountability – something the current administration does not have.  During Mr. Pegram’s prior years in office, the County’s financial records were able to be audited so that the public really could tell what the financial situation was.  During Mr. Pegram’s prior time in office, the county paid its bills and didn’t hold checks.  During Mr. Pegram’s prior time in office, the County Administrator didn’t cuss out and scream at County employees.

Continued illegal acts, violation of State (and possibly federal) laws, out of control litigation, illegal taxes, loss of jobs, no plans to help the communities, . . . Of course, the incumbent lost. 

Bring on the FBI & US Attorney – it’s past time!

The County Administrator – Let’s be clear!

Court documents from the county administrator’s latest appearance in Municipal Court show that he resides on Turtle Lane in Brandon, Mississippi.  Let’s be clear, we do not have an issue about where the County Administrator resides, Brandon – Tunica or Timbuktu!  In short, if he can do the job, he should be able to live anywhere.

 

The problem with the County Administrator, is not where he resides, it is with his job performance!  In two short years, under the County Administrator’s leadership, backed by a voting block primarily made up of three elected Supervisors, has resulted in:

 

• Illegally discontinuing funding to the Tunica County School System and the Town of Tunica.
   
• Illegally raising taxes on every citizen and business located within Tunica County for fiscal year 2015 and continuing that illegal practice in 2016.

• Depleting the county general fund asset balance from $11.1 million in 2011 to $800,000 in 2016 in estimated cash as of October 1, 2016, and depleting the county road fund by $5 million during that period.
   
• No audit of the county during his administration.  Why is it that our self-proclaimed “forensic auditor”/county administrator does not provide the citizens of Tunica County with this state mandated function of county government? 

• An expose on Tunica County in the Washington Post brought on at the invitation of the county administrator.  Deplorable housing in Tunica County?  Are we not spending over $10,000 per month administering a housing program?  The administrator is benefiting but whose home is being worked on? 

These actions by our County Administrator have resulted in unnecessary litigation that has cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.  We say hundreds of thousands because we don’t actually know the figure.  It’s been asked, but not answered. 

 

These are just a few of the accomplishments made by our current county administrator during his two years here in Tunica. 

 

Tunica County, We Deserve Better – We Can Do Better – We MUST Do Better!

Litigation Cost - will the County Administrator release the legal cost to the citizens?

This is pretty cool - check on the status of the Tunica County v. Tunica County School & Town of Tunica Supreme Court appeal yourself:


http://courts.ms.gov/appellate_courts/generaldocket.html


Once there - Case Year - 2015;  Case sequence:  01183


Or, to review and check the status of the Hollywood Casino litigation over the illegal taxes:


Once there - Case Year - 2015; Case sequence:  01645


This way no one has to rely on rumors and hearsay.  We can all see and know the truth about what is going on with the Mississippi Supreme Court.  We wish it was like that with the current County Administration.


It would be interesting to know how much this litigation is costing the taxpayers?  Mr. County Administrator, would you be willing to share the County's legal cost for each of these two losing matters with the citizens of Tunica County?  I doubt it, but maybe he'll surprise us.

The Citizens have a right to know! What is the real financial situation?

Unfortunate – and illegal – decisions over the last several years (especially last two years) will cost Tunica County and its citizens thousands & thousands of dollars.  Completely unnecessary litigation will cause the new Board trouble for years.  Competent advice from the appointed officials would have avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars of litigation cost and the violation of various state laws.  While we can’t change the past, we certainly can learn from it.  So, where do we go from here?

The new Board of Supervisors will have to determine what their priorities are.  As part of this, the new Board of Supervisors could dedicate 15%-25% of the gaming revenue to pay the County’s debt and fund the programs that support Tunica County’s largest industry and biggest taxpayer.  The casino industry pays 100% of the gaming taxes – is it too much to ask that a fraction of this be used to support the industry?  Remember, the County gets a percentage of the gaming revenues so investing in the industry through programs that help the gaming industry will help increase gaming revenues – more revenues for the County.  That would be a “win-win” scenario.  Further, dedicating as little as 15% of the gaming revenues to pay the debt service will reduce property taxes for everyone. 

What other uses are there for the remaining 75%-85% of the gaming revenue?  A percentage of the gaming revenue needs to be used for public safety.  A percentage of the gaming revenues are already dedicated to educational purposes (of course, the current Board has not valued this and illegally stopped the payment – and incurred 6 figure legal costs for this illegal action).  A percentage of the gaming revenue needs to be dedicated for recreational programs.  A percentage of the gaming revenues need to be dedicated to housing, to water quality, etc.  When gaming is up, every program will benefit.  When gaming is down, every program will need to tighten its belt – not just a select few.

Just think what could have been done with $300,000 to $500,000 if it had not been spent on unnecessary and “lost” litigation.  While a topic for another day, some preliminary information indicates that Tunica County’s cost for health insurance has gone up several hundred thousand dollars since the current Board voted to change companies.  It would be real interesting to know if this is true, but with no audit, no one can really tell.

We need to demand more accountably so that the new Board will have some understanding of the real issues that it will face.  It is time for the truth about the financial situation to be told – the financial situation created by the current Board!  It is time to end the wasteful, unnecessary and illegal spending.  Approving claims and then holding the checks because there is no money is just not right – probably not legal.  The County Administrator should be required to explain why there is no audit for any of the time that he has been in office – right at TWO years.  If he was auditing Tunica County right now – what would he say?  The County Administrator should be required to provide a monthly cash report by department and fund showing the real financial state of the County.  The County Administrator should be required to provide a projection of where the County will be on January 1^st when the new Board takes over.  The citizens and new Board members deserve to KNOW the truth.

Congratulations! Now, can the pieces be sorted out?

Congratulations to the winning candidates from yesterday – particular the two “new” Supervisors, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Pegram.  The vote is clear evidence that the citizens of Tunica County are demanding better!  The vote is clear that the citizens of Tunica County are expecting better!

Be careful what you ask for . . . you might get it.  Believe it or not, the hard part will start in January.  The current Board’s policies appear to have led our County to near disaster.  It appears that you will take office with a mountain of litigation (most of which has been lost and is now on appeal – like a hail-Mary pass at with no time on the clock), no money in the bank (really worse, no money in the bank and lots of checks bill held), and a County Administrator that does not seem to know what to do other than encourage more and illegal taxes.   Further, It would seem as though the new Board members will be taking over a County that is not able to be audited. 

With all of the problems, will also come opportunities.  We would recommend starting by contacting the State Auditor and demanding that his team of auditors immediately initiate a full audit of the County – maybe even a forensic audit.  The new Board should not have to start with a cloud hanging over them.  We know where the current Board started back in January, 2012 because of the audit – which showed over $11,000,000 in general fund assets and over $6,000,000 in the road fund.  Of course based on Mr. Thompson’s budget, we know these assets/funds are gone with only about $1,500,000 as a beginning cash balance for the general fund and road fund combined as of October 1. 

There are strict legal limits on what can be done during the last year of office by Supervisors and how much money they can spend during their last months of office.  This will be monitored and the current Board members can be held personally responsible for illegal activity.

Again, congratulations and hopefully the days of “not guilty” being the standard set for our County Administrator are over.

Tunica County will do better!

$140,000,000 - Where did it go? Can we really afford four more years?

BY THE NUMBERS - ADDING UP WHAT THE CURRENT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COULD HAVE COST THE CITIZENS OF TUNICA COUNTY IN FOUR YEARS: 

$4,000,000                         Estimated cost to refund the illegally collected 2014 property taxes.

$4,000,000                         Estimated amount of budgeted property taxes for 2015 that well could be ruled illegal.

$3,000,000                         Estimated amount the County could have to refund based on pending casino property valuation challenges.

$5,000,000                         Estimated amounts illegal withheld from the School and Town

$10,000,000                      Difference in the amount of assets in the general fund as shown by an AUDIT for 9/30/11 versus the beginning cash balance for the current year’s budget.

$5,000,000                         Difference in the amount of cash in the road fund as show by an AUDIT for 9/30/11 versus the beginning cash balance for the current year’s budget.

$???????                             Cost of litigation to fight over such issues as why the Board didn’t just advertise as required by law – publish twice and wait 7 days – it’s that easy!  81 other counties follow the law.  Tunica County followed the law until 2014.  Why the change?  Why not do it right the first time?  Since January, 2014, it appears well over $300,000 has been spent on legal fees – not counting the $50,000 cost to have an attorney at all of the meetings and available to provide legal guidance to avoid litigation.

$31,000,000                      THE TOTAL.  There is tax money that needs to be paid back to taxpayers.  There is money that should never have been collected.  Laws have been broken.  There is money where the citizens have no audit to review in order to know its elected officials have not broken other laws. 

$140,000,000                    Estimated amount of the four budgets approved by the current Board of Supervisors.  4 times the FY2016 total budget of over $35,000,000.  Where did the current Board of Supervisors spend this money? 

 

Can Tunica County really afford four more years?  While a select few are doing great – ask yourself – Can YOU really afford four more years of illegal taxes, reduced services and no audits to show where the money is going?

The final thought:

$1,000,000              The cost to the taxpayers for 5 supervisors for 4 more years.  This does not include the thousands of dollars they vote on to send themselves on “county” trips to learn what the law is and how to follow it.

 

Is “Not Guilty” really the standard we have set for our elected and appointed officials?  Tunica County can do better.  Tunica County deserves better.

OUT OF CONTROL LITIGATION COST

Poor judgment and legal advice are costing Tunica County hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The current Board of Supervisors followed the law for the first 24 months of its term of office and paid part of the gaming revenues to the Tunica Schools and Town of Tunica – which the law requires.  The law had been being followed and compiled with for over two decades.  Once the current Board of Supervisors voted to not pay the Tunica Schools and the Town of Tunica, the current Board of Supervisors then sued not only the Tunica Schools but also the Town of Tunica. 

The Attorney General for the State of Mississippi and the State Audit informed the current Board of Supervisors that this was illegal.  The Attorney General and State Auditor stated the County should not withhold the payments.  The current Board of Supervisors does not care what the Attorney General thinks and appears to not care with the State Auditors think.  The current Board of Supervisors does not seem to care what the Circuit Court thinks.  Is there any reason to think the current Board of Supervisors will care what the Mississippi Supreme Court will think?

The Court ruled against Tunica County and directed that the Tunica Schools and Town be paid.  Well the current Board of Supervisors voted to appeal this decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court.  Who benefits from this litigation – the lawyer.   Reports show that Tunica County’s legal bills for this litigation are over $125,000!  The legal cost continue to go up as the appeal moves forward.  The taxpayers should not have to pay this cost.  One legal bill indicates that the attorney for Tunica County spent seven and half hours for “review and analysis of TCM spreadsheet from 1993 to 2014.”  At $300 per hour, it cost the taxpayers over $2,200 for an attorney to look at some spreadsheets. 

What is the position of the current candidates for supervisor on the unnecessary litigation cost?  If you support the current Board of Supervisors then you must support ridiculous and very expense litigation.