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Council asks DPW to correct referral after arithmetic error in budget-transfer table
Summary
Councilors identified a numerical discrepancy in the Department of Public Works budget-transfer referral and asked staff to correct the table before formal consideration.
Mount Vernon city council members flagged an arithmetic error in a Department of Public Works budget-transfer referral on Sept. 8 and asked DPW staff to fix the referral letter before the item proceeds to the council agenda.
DPW staff presented Item 6 as a set of budget transfers. A council member reviewing the table said the transfers did not add up and pointed out the source and destination columns were inconsistent. That council member explained how specific line entries were being reallocated: for example, $4,500 moved from building maintenance of parking garages to other accounts and $15,000 moved from maintenance of parts to equipment.
Councilor McLeason noted a more explicit discrepancy: "Item number 6, the DPW transfer. The third transfer in the table is moving $20,000, but then it's saying that they have 25. So they need to correct that, the referral letter, to make the, transfer data." Staff acknowledged the error and the need for corrected numbers.
Why it matters: Accurate referral tables are necessary for transparency and correct bookkeeping; council members said the error must be fixed before formal approval.
Next steps: DPW staff were asked to revise the referral letter and correct the arithmetic and line-item totals so councilors have an accurate transfer table before the item is considered for adoption.
