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Council questions phone, electric and utility charges during financial review
Summary
During its April meeting the Coffee City Council probed recurring charges and utility payments in the March financials, including a roughly $700 monthly phone/internet/cable bill driven in part by a $300 business-host program and multiple Trinity Valley utility payments for different city facilities.
Councilmembers used the March financial report to press staff on recurring utility and service charges, seeking clarity on what the city pays monthly and where savings might be found. City Secretary Mary McDonald explained that the telephone, internet and cable line runs about $700 monthly because "the majority of the cost was for the business host program that is set on the phone system which cost almost $300.00 a month." She said once the municipal court is closed the city could remove that system and reduce that recurring expense.
Council members also asked about high electric bills and noted street lights that appeared not to be functioning. McDonald said three separate payments to Trinity Valley covered city hall, the community center and street lights, and that the mowing expense reflected service to city hall only. Kevin Haughey pressed staff for an inventory of lights and clearer reconciliation of court income versus profit-and-loss reports; McDonald explained profit-and-loss figures reflect balances after other expenses and therefore do not match the court report totals exactly.
Council did not direct immediate budget changes at the meeting but the discussion flagged areas staff said they could review ahead of the next budget cycle.
