Stanley acts on money woes, appoints new finance chief (April 8, 1999)
By Ron Fonger, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Mayor Woodrow Stanley, faced with stubborn financial problems, Wednesday appointed Matthew Grady III as the chief of his Finance Department, part of a new fiscal plan to resolve lingering woes.
The plan comes as city auditors push to complete an annual audit that is more than three months late to the state of Michigan, a situation that has impaired the city’s ability to borrow money.
Stanley’s plan includes:
- The permanent appointment of Grady, who has been praised by the administration, auditors and City Council members since he took over the department on an interim basis two months ago.
- Stanley said he will begin a search immediately to replace Grady as budget director.
- Creation of a three- to five-member blue ribbon review committee composed of
financial experts to review city financial policies.
- The committee will be asked to review some of the most pressing financial questions facing the city. Among them: reconciling Flint’s incorrect distribution of some property taxes to other local entities dating to the 1996 tax roll and resolving a question of how much the city owes the state in industrial facility taxes for the past three years.
- Retaining accounting firm Arthur Andersen to provide financial consulting and assistance to the finance department during
this period of review and transition.
- A recommendation to the Flint Retirement Board that it hire an independent retirement fund administrator, a move the administration had resisted for several years.
Before the February resignation of former Finance Director Marc Puckett, an internal investigation found that the department failed to transfer more than $20 million in employee and employer contributions to the city’s pension system on a timely basis.
The mistake ultimately cost city taxpayers nearly $1 million, the cost of replacing interest that should have been earned on the money.
This should send a clear signal that we are fully on top of (these issues),
Stanley said.
It should help to put a number of these issues behind us.
The mayor called the financial program my personal pledge to establish adequate mechanisms to prevent similar incidences from occurring in the future.
Stanley said he was disappointed with how the former finance director handled some matters,
naming the pension transfer in particular.
But he did not criticize Puckett, who had been a department head since 1992, for property tax problems that have helped to delay this year’s audit.
A number of issues, including Proposal A — the property tax-cutting measure passed by Michigan voters in 1994 — and the settlement of a General Motors property tax appeal, contributed to those problems, he said.
City Councilman Mark Horrigan of the 6th Ward, chairman of the council’s Finance Committee, said he is encouraged by what he heard.
They all sound like very good ideas,
said Horrigan, but we should have never gotten in this position.
Ron Fonger covers Flint city government and Bishop Airport. He can be reached at (810) 766-6317.
Copyright Flint Journal / MLive Media Group (mlive.com). Used with permission.
Files dealing with Marc Puckett
- 19920114 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19920225 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19920303 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19920305 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19920319 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19920623 Minutes of a special meeting of the city council for the City of East Detroit, Macomb County, Michigan
- 19960111 Retirement firm accuses official of favoritism
- 19960403 Folks soaked by water bills may get relief
- 19960920 Marc Puckett’s red light ticket
- 19990130 $9-million pension fund transfer raises questions
- 19990202 Retirement panel urges ‘immediate’ audit of plan
- 19990203 Retirement board splits over need for independent manager
- 19990203 Finance director resigns under fire of pension flap
- 19990210 Former finance director lashes back at critics, hints suit
- 19990224 Flint to boost pension fund
- 19990319 Flint sent tax funds to wrong units
- 19990326 Ex-finance director cashes in on $6,000 in unused vacation time
- 19990330 Flint could owe state millions some industrial facilities taxes have not been paid since 1996
- 19990408 Stanley acts on money woes, appoints new finance chief
- 19990411 Stanley must share blame as part of his plan to fix city’s financial woes
- 19990909 Audit details shortfalls in financial procedures
- 20100219 Personal injury complaint against Marc Puckett
- 20100408 Answer of defendant, Marc R. Puckett, to plaintiffs’ complaint
- 20101227 New finance director to step down
- 20101228 Marc Puckett out — Again
- 20101230 Leadership turmoil
- 20110104 The world according to John Moorlach
- 20110110 City faces $231,000 deficit
- 20110113 Interim finance director named
- 20110210 Marc Puckett’s speeding ticket
- 201102405 Marc Puckett’s ticket for stopping on a red signal
- 20110817 Marc Puckett’s ticket for no license plate
- 20120309 Marc Puckett’s Orange County accident case information
- 20120425 Marc Puckett’s speeding ticket
- 20120703 Marc Puckett’s speeding ticket
- 20140724 Marc Puckett’s speeding ticket
- 20141124 Marc Puckett’s ticket for coasting out of gear
- 20141205 Marc Puckett’s ticket for speeding
- 20150529 Marc Puckett’s ticket for improper use of preferred lane
- Comments for tonight’s council meeting
- The innumerate Mr. Puckett
- Shill crazy after all these years
- Earth to Puckett!
- About those awards
- One PRR story: American Express (CC)
- 20160913 Documents link top Apple Valley official to #FlintWaterCrisis
- 20160913 Investigation: Flint / Apple Valley Connection
- 20160915 Economic Speech (Trump)
- 20161018 Will Apple Valley become California’s Flint, MI?
- 20170319 Trump EPA grants Michigan $100 million to fix Flint water system
- 20170320 Sinkhole: Effort to replace pipes to Flint homes off to slow start
- 20170806 Vehicle belonging to AV town manager involved in hit-and-run
- He’s gonna need a good lawyer
- 20170809 Apple Valley official believes Liberty could have followed him before crash
- Public trust destroyed (Carloni)
- 20170907 Hit-and-run investigation involving Marc Puckett’s Cadillac sent to DA
- 20171010 Marc Puckett’s speeding ticket
- A question of character
- 20171206 Apple Valley Finance Director Marc Puckett charged with felony hit-and-run
- 20171206 A long wait for crash victim
- 20171117 A history of infractions
- 20171207 Apple Valley Finance Director Marc Puckett on personal leave after felony hit-and-run charge filed
- 20171214 Apple Valley Finance Director Marc Puckett pleads not guilty to felony hit-and-run charge
- 20171214 I-15 crash victim seeks $2M in damages from Apple Valley
- 20171219 Editorial: Passing the Puck (Valles)
- 20171228 Town Hall position not a factor in Puckett’s custody status, attorney says
- 20180105 Puckett forced out as Apple Valley’s Assistant Manager & Finance Director
- 20180109 Tin Cup Men (Valles)
- 20180116 Puckett’s dismissal just what the town needed (Valles)
- 20180307 Puckett deposition set for mid-April in town’s eminent domain case
- 20180425 Pre-plea report ordered in Puckett’s felony case