City Council is poised to approve a write-off of $4.3 million in city inventory that has gone missing or been stolen over the past several years.
Computers, printers, ice machines, chairs, even a forklift can’t be found.
As Mike Weinstein, Mayor Lenny Curry’s chief financial officer, told the Finance Committee last week, there was a lack of accountability and responsibility in the past.
In all, the more than 1,300 items have a net present value of more than $94,000 that will be taken off the books. That value factors in depreciation over the years.
Though Curry’s team placed the blame on Mayor Alvin Brown, it began long before he was in office.
In the final months of former Mayor John Peyton’s term, his team sought to write off 637 items worth $1.7 million, with a net value of more than $40,000. The items went missing before Peyton was mayor.
Alarmed at the problem, council formed a subcommittee to look deeper at the issue.
“We wanted them to go back to the drawing board to figure it out,” said council member John Crescimbeni, one of three who served on the group.
He said the problems asked to be corrected then — mainly poor bookkeeping — never really were fixed.
“It’s sloppy, sloppy, sloppy inventory control,” said Crescimbeni.
That write-off bill filed by the Peyton team in April 2011 was withdrawn in August of the same year. Most of the items from that list appear on the latest one.
For example, of the 44 items listed as missing or stolen from the Circuit Court on the 2011 list, 35 remain unaccounted for. The new breakdown has a total of 80 items listed.
The last time the city deleted such items was 2010 when almost $32,000 worth of net present items were written off.
According to minutes from the 2011 subcommittee, most of the items were related to information technology and were removed without the proper paperwork being completed.
Budget pressures meant fewer employees who were saddled with inventory management that ultimately “may not have been a high priority item,” the minutes said.
Initially, Crescimbeni said his fear when the problem arose several years ago was that items were being stolen. However, a deeper dive showed bad bookkeeping.
“I just don’t think we know what the hell we’re doing,” he said.
Fast forward five years and council members looking at the issue last week also had concerns.
Although the amount being written off is $94,000, some said the city still would have to buy replacements for items like tables and chairs that had lifespans longer than technology-based equipment.
“It does represent real cost if we have to replace it,” said council member Aaron Bowman.
City policy has every item worth more than $1,000 tagged and randomly tested.
Items don’t come off the list until property officers do the proper paperwork.
Council member Bill Gulliford suggested every item over a certain age — instead of a random sampling — be reviewed to ensure it’s still there and working properly.
Improved technology using radio frequency technology, commonly called RFID, was suggested by the Curry administration as a possible way to better track items. If they’re moved, they’re tagged and have much less a risk of being lost.
Crescimbeni said the same technology was suggested by the same people back in 2011. He’s a proponent of the idea still.
“I don’t think we can do anything about what is on the list today,” he said.
Going forward, he and others want to see some changes.
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