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Commissioners told to limit spending as city general fund is depleted; questions raised about loss of commission billing oversight
Summary
Airport commissioners were told the city has enacted a general spending freeze and were warned to restrict nonessential expenditures. Commissioners raised concerns that City Hall now pays airport bills without commission review, and requested account detail reports.
The Gardner City Airport Commission was told that the citywide general fund is largely depleted and that departments were instructed to restrict expenditures to essential expenses until the end of the fiscal year.
An auditorreport relayed a directive from the mayor that only essential expenses should be incurred before the fiscal year end in June. Commission staff said the airport would need to limit spending and that repairs such as a broken electronic gate would be treated as essential and prioritized for quotes and repair.
Commissioners repeatedly expressed concern that City Hall has been processing and paying airport bills without sending itemized invoices to the commission. Several commissioners said they had never seen detailed bills for operating expenses and asked for full account details. Staff said city hall currently processes payments and that the mayor must approve expenditures; the commission no longer receives routine prior approval of invoices.
In response, staff agreed to print and provide a detailed list of account activity and account numbers for commissioners to review at the next meeting. Commissioners discussed encumbering remaining balances into restricted accounts before June 30 to preserve funds for next year.
