Budget: No ‘secrets’ to Jackson’s predicament

The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 8/23/7

The Jackson City Council is expected to resume budget discussions today and, perhaps, will be apprised by Mayor Frank Melton as to how “secret” deficits by his predecessor are to blame for his failure to address a $3.9 million shortfall.

At a Monday meeting, Melton told the Council that his internal auditors have discovered the city has run a deficit for years. He passed around a sheet prepared by his staff that showed his first budget, fiscal 2006-07, inherited a $5.6 million revenue shortfall from former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., who was in office eight years before being defeated by Melton in June 2005.

Now, that’s passing the buck! Literally.