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Interim administrator seeks extra time to prepare budget; council agrees to additional workshops
Summary
New interim Town Administrator Driggers asked for more time to review audits and meet staff before budget workshops; council agreed to keep the upcoming workshop but to add additional meetings so Driggers can be fully prepared.
Interim Town Administrator Mr. Driggers asked the Blythewood Town Council to postpone an upcoming budget workshop so he could review last year’s audit and meet with finance staff. Council members debated schedule changes but ultimately agreed to proceed with the already scheduled workshop while adding extra sessions if needed.
Driggers said he wanted time to examine the prior-year audit and financial statements and to meet with staff so he could be better prepared to present recommendations. “I want to spend some time going through your prior year audit... and talk with our staff relative to needs that they have coming up,” he said.
Why it matters: Council members said timely budget review is important to maintain schedule of public readings and hearings, but giving the new administrator adequate time to analyze the town’s finances would improve the quality of the review.
Councilman Brock said he preferred to keep the March 27 workshop date but would support adding another workshop if needed. Several council members asked for the proposed budget to be circulated before workshops; staff said the proposed budget would be ready for distribution the Friday before the meeting after a scheduled internal review.
Staff noted that one finance staff member’s illness briefly delayed finalization of budget materials. The town attorney and administration agreed to schedule additional workshops if Driggers needs more time; the council also discussed moving one workshop to April 3 or April 10 if that better accommodates the administrator’s review schedule.
Driggers said he would meet with council members individually and in group sessions to understand their priorities and would perform a trend analysis of town finances, including distinguishing recurring operating expenses from one-time revenues.
Ending: Council members asked staff to circulate the proposed budget after the final internal review and to schedule additional workshops if necessary so the council can review, ask questions, and prepare for public readings and hearings in May and June.
