The City of Pensacola has gotten lax in releasing its quarterly unaudited financial reports. Â The reports for first six months of FY 2017 – which ended June 30 – were released yesterday, 67 days after the period ended and only 25 days before the fourth quarter ends.
The delay makes them nearly useless to the Pensacola City Council if they wanted to question the administration about operations, change any city policies or recommend amendments to the budget. When the Council holds its regular meeting on Sept. 14, FY 2017 is practically over. Â They are literally left in the dark about what’s happening in city operations.
Former Council President Maren DeWeese points out several revenue issues with the city’s enterprises on her blog.
What we noticed is legal fees have continued to climb:
| Third Quarter Legal Costs | Increase | ||
| 2015 | Â $741,913.14 | ||
| 2016 | Â $826,130.28 | Â $84,217.14 | 11.4% |
| 2017 | Â $1,003,265.96 | Â $177,135.68 | 21.4% |
| Since 2015 | Â $261,352.82 | 32.8% | |
Unfortunately, the Pensacola City Council and public will not see the unaudited financial reports for FY 2017 until December or January 2018. Â What successful business operates with a 67-day delay in getting financial statements?