Pay Cuts??

At a recent budget workshop, county commissioner Kevin Beckner called for a minimum 10% pay cut for all commissioners. He said he wants everyone in county government to “feel the pain” of the current budget crisis.

At an annual salary of over $90,000, a 10% cut is a big chunk of change.

I’m wondering if his buddy and political ally, April Griffin, will follow suit on the Hillsborough School Board.

A school board member’s salary is about $40,000, so a 10% cut sounds less severe.

I doubt, though, that Griffin would ever propose such a thing. Same thinking for her echo, Susan Valdes. Their current salaries are more than each ever made in the private sector. Plus, Valdes is still paying off the little red Mercedes she bought immediately after her first election, and Griffin just bought a new home in Temple Terrace. I doubt either can afford to cut a nickel from the best job they ever had.


District Audits


The St Pete Times today reported that the Florida Auditor General found 25 accounting or procedural violations within the Pinellas School District. Three of those were considered “significant” and represented millions in misapplied funds.

By comparison, the auditors found only 5 violations within the Hillsborough School District, and all of those are considered minor. Our Superintendent should be proud of her bean counters.

In another bit of Pinellas news, the former Safety Harbor finance manager is under investigation after auditors found $216,000 in cash missing from the town’s bank accounts. Some of that money may have been used to pay off fraudulent credit card purchases. What the hell, Maybell!

Is the Hillsborough School District the only local government agency that actually employs sound accounting practices?????

posted by admin @ 5:53 PM