City of Roy acting Clerk-Treasurer Beth King and city staff discovered a series of lost revenues for the city from the past couple of years that were not addressed by previous staff.
In a review of building permits issued in early 2023, King told the council Monday, Oct. 21, that the city found approximately $8,000 in unpaid fees charged that staff cannot go back and collect. She also said that the city has issued 16 permits with three stop work orders starting before acquiring permits with more such orders coming in the next few days.
In 2023, a total of 14 building permits were issued. King said staff didn’t know if the low number was a result of a lack of work or a lack of observance of work being done.
“We’re finding things that are being worked on that no one has brought to our attention except our staff looking at things,” she said. “There are some community members that have helped us with things.”
City staff also discovered at least one unpaid water bill on a property that has been accruing late fees since November of 2020 despite the water being shut off. To date, the balance is $39,953.43.
“I will be placing a lien on the property with additional fees for the processing, and we’re also looking into other options to recover those funds,” King said.
During a recent system training, staff discovered that a business in town has not been paying its Business and Occupation taxes regularly since 2021. The business was purchased that year, and the city has only received four quarterly tax payments to date.
“Calculating the average of those four, we have lost approximately $9,000 plus the penalties that start at 29%. We are beginning to research all of our business for compliance, so there could be much more,” King said.
King also requested that the council consider splitting the position of city clerk-treasurer into two positions as her duties have become excessive, including responding to an increasing number of public records requests, overseeing meetings, budgeting, payroll and more.
“This job would best serve the city if it were split into two positions as it was done back in 2019. The clerk position would then be able to assist other departments and continue the records management work, as well as pursue the outstanding taxes and receivables, research more grants and continue to do the non-financial duties of the current position,” King said.
The lost funds became harsher news for the city as the council voted Monday not to move forward with pursuing funding from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for its water treatment plans. The loan of over $1 million would have cost the city between $10,000 to $15,000 to apply for but could have paid for the majority of its mitigation costs of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contaminants in its well water, and forgiveness of up to 100% may have been available, depending on how much of the loan the city qualified for.
Roy does have $300,000 sitting in its water fund, and its previously allocated $77,869 in American Rescue Plan Act funds will remain allocated for future water infrastructure. The council voted against reallocating the funds for necessary technological updates, comprehensive plan costs, legal fees and contracting services.
The council, which welcomed Ryan Muller to Position No. 4, also heard complaints from two former city planning commissioners who said they were wrongly removed from the commission. Cindy Byrd and Carol Dittbenner told the council that they were confirmed to the commission by the council in May and were given 90 days after taking their oath of office in July to complete a state-mandated training.
While both commissioners said they completed the training within the parameters given, King and Mayor Kimber Ivy pointed out that the start date of their training began when their appointment was confirmed by the council, not when they took their oaths. The authority of appointing and removing planning commissioners belongs to the mayor, city attorney David Galazin said.
“We weren’t provided record of their training. We were provided notes, but there is no complete certificate provided, and we do track that from the website that provides the training,” Ivy said.
Ivy also accused the former planning commissioners of inefficiencies in their preparation and neglect of duty, as well as inappropriate behavior.
“We have, on recording, one of the commissioners outright saying they will not approve anything for the City of Roy to progress in any way, shape or form to not only the commission chair but to multiple residents as well,” she said. “That goes in contradiction to their oath as commissioners to review things put forward to them. We also have inappropriate language and inappropriate behavior being used toward staff and inappropriate remarks about myself. Those were not the deciding factors. The deciding factor was the training was not completed within the time stated by the state.”
The council interviewed one candidate for the planning commission and chose not to interview another, but Ivy told the council that she would consider speaking with Byrd and Dittbenner after multiple councilors opposed adding any new commissioners other than the two of them.
