$50 million for capital improvements found among a half-billion dollars in Jax accounting errors

More than a half-billion dollars in mistakes.

“An accumulation of bookkeeping errors essentially over the last 15 years,” says Councilwoman Lori Boyer.

A special committee which has been conducting a financial review of Jacksonville’s Capital Improvement Program says they’ve found clerical errors, double bookings, and more that have added up. While it doesn’t appear that there was any money improperly spent, the committee says what amounts to “sloppy bookkeeping” has led to a lack of transparency that needs to change.

The vast majority of their findings doesn’t represent actual money to be spent, although the committee did find about $25 million which was put toward some capital projects this year and another $50 million that can go to next year. Otherwise, Boyer says they made changes that will give them a better idea of what is actually on hand.

“Errors that led to the appearance of more budget in some accounts than was real,” she says.

Their work led to formally closing out more than 1200 projects which had been completed and reducing the City’s overall debt authorization. They looked through Better Jacksonville Plan, stormwater projects, and more.

The biggest clean-up reflecting an account dealing with the local option gas tax. After the implementation of BJP, the City decided to give the gas tax revenue to JTA, but the committee found that the revenue was still intermingled in a City account. Overall, more than $400 million has now been isolated in a specific account for this purpose.

Boyer says it’s important to get the books cleaned up because they need a better grasp of what budget is actually on hand. She’s seen the problem before when trying to move forward district projects only to learn the financial documentation she was given didn’t match the actual budget. The final push to form the committee came from this past budget cycle, when the Mayor proposed a large increase in the City’s debt capacity. Boyer and several other councilmen wanted to investigate whether the City could and should take that on.

The borrowing capacity is a question that will now take center stage as the committee shifts from evaluating the current situation to ensuring it doesn’t happen again.

“We need to do a better job in the accounting process, and we need to have some checkpoints at which we need to verify that everything balances,” Boyer says.

Questions like whether the City is using the best process to borrow money and if deficit spending should be allowed are two of the focal points moving forward. Boyer says they will also look at the current debt affordability parameters- right now the City is prevented from borrowing more than a certain percentage of various revenues, like property taxes. For the last few years, that parameter has been waived, so Boyer wants to look at whether it should be eliminated, changed, or the City should go back to adhering to it.

Regarding the money that was uncovered, Boyer says $25 million has already been rolled in to various projects that hadn’t been funded. Another $50 million is now ready to be used in next year’s capital plan- which is different than the general budget because  it is not used for operation expenses. Boyer says some of that money is designated for specific purposes, like road repair, but at least $10 million is unrestricted.

The special committee will not be making a recommendation on how to spend the unrestricted money that was found, saying they will leave it to the Mayor’s Office to prioritize the needs as part of the ongoing budget talks. A Mayor’s Office spokesman tells WOKV it’s too early in the process to say what the money may be used for. He says they are reviewing the new legislation filed by the committee and look forward to putting their work to use.