THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WALB) - To curb over spending, Thomasville council members are planning to have individual spending accounts of $5,000 for the 2019 fiscal year.
As of June, Thomasville City Council members surpassed their 2018 fiscal year budget of $20,000 according to Albany Attorney Chris Cohilas, hired by a few concerned residents.
Many residents are frustrated about this matter because the budget isn't company expense, it's taxpayer's dollars.
Mayor Pro Temp Terry Scott said the budget increase will help resolve the issue.
"With the new budget we have now, the council now has $5,000. I think that's going to be a good increase for us," said Scott.
Scott said the overall budget is increasing by $5,000 for 2019. He said the increase is necessary to accommodate for the amount of meetings they'll have to attend.
To ensure over spending doesn't happen again they'll periodically be informed of their spending.
"In fact every council {member} will know where his budget is at because he'll have a visual site on it every month," said Scott.
He said not knowing how much they were spending is one reason they exceeded this year's budget.
"Nothing was done intentionally, but it was just an oversight of ours," said Scott.
With policies in place keeping them aware of their spending, Scott believes the issue will be resolved by 2019.
We will continue to update you as changes to the budget are made.
