Catching up on Navigation District Happenings

 

Catching up on Navigation District Happenings

 

I have been quiet about the District for more than a year now; watching and listening.  Now it’s time to write.  Last February 2023, I addressed the meeting in the Citizens to be Heard portion of the Agenda.  I pointed out that in 2022 the District met in Open Session for 20 hours conducting its business.  It met in Executive Session for 26 hours and in 18 of those 26 hours, they came out and took no action.  Can you say “Transparency”?    I also told them they were not following a GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) requirement to compare Actuals to Budget monthly.  And that not doing so could jeopardize their Bond rating.  

Chairman Dieckow approached me following the meeting; handed me his card with his personal email address on it and invited me to have a cup of coffee and conversation.  We met March 15 th for a little over an hour.  I listened to what he had to say.

Summary of his statements.

The 2023 Budget is now finalized, and I should have a copy of it shortly.

The website will soon be able to post the District’s financial statements.

They approved live streaming the meetings to provide for more transparency and were working out policy and procedures in order to get it started.

The SNAFU on the 2022 filing deadline for a place on the ballot was a personal embarrassment and continues to haunt him.

He told me this was his last stint on the Commission.  He had promised his wife that he would not seek re-election and he intended to keep that promise.

 I brought to the meeting a page of the Aransas County Appraisal District’s audit where the requirement of comparing Actual results to Budget is covered.  He took the page, folded it and placed it with his other documents.  I was a Board member of the Appraisal District at the time.

 Now for the results. 

The 2023 Budget had been finalized months before.  It is the habit of the District to refer to its budget in cross-over year names.  I.e. 2022-2023 Budget.  Their fiscal year is December 31^st.  It is misleading to refer to it in multi-year terms.

The District has yet to post or publicly make available its internal financial statements.  I finally received a paper copy in August after 2 Public Information Act requests were ignored.  That will be taken up in detail in the next post. 

Although the District approved Live Streaming in Open Session in 2022 nearly 2 years ago; nothing has been done to bring it to fruition.  No discussions have been conducted in a Public Meeting regarding the progress.

The District has not discussed Actual results to Budget projections at any time in 2023 or thus far in 2024.

In an effort to be less transparent than they already are, the District voted in November 2023 to have only 1 public meeting monthly instead of the usual 2.  When they do have a meeting, they no longer have minutes of the prior meeting available for public review.  They no longer have overhead projections of any reports that they discuss including the Treasurer’s Report, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable.  They discuss, ask questions, make motions and approve their business items without the public seeing any of it.  Conducting business transparently is supposed to mean “in full view”, not in No View. 

In the next blog post, I will take up the issue of their Financial Audit or more accurately the lack of one.