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YOUR TAX
BILLS HELD HOSTAGE
Weeks 12 and 13
Mayor
Blames Prussing,
Wants to hire more Consultants
Last
January Rumbo reported that your tax bills were not being issued
because of a cash flow problem. Our sources at the Department of
Revenue tell us that the City, meaning the Mayor, has spent too
much money and that some funds are “unaccounted for. As a
result, the state department of Revenue, which must approve the
tax bills before they are issued, is refusing to release the
bills until the money can be found.
Lawrence Budget and Finance director Carl Prussing, a loyalist to
Mayor Dowling, tried to cover up her fiscal mess, loyally
defending the mayor and denying any problem. “there is no
problem, the tax bills will be issued any day now” Prussing
told us in January, “the Mayor is very capable and she has
this under control” he added. As February dragged on,
however, it became more and more obvious that the tax bills were
not about to be issued and the story was not about to go away.
Mayor Dowling originally blamed the consulting firm Sullivan and
Bille (whom no one wants to call a consultant) but then quickly
shifted the blame to city employee Mr. Prussing.
By the time the Tribune started paying attention to the missing
tax bills, Mayor Dowling refused to take responsibility as the
chief executive officer pointing the finger at Prussing for the
problem.
Who is
really to blame?
Dowling hired consulting firm Sullivan and Bille to evaluate the
tax bills and reconcile any problems with the state DOR. Rumbo
contacted Prussing several times to try and get the real story,
but he continued to give us the Mayors party line, even defending
the Mayor. Rumbo tried to warn Prussing that the Mayor has a
history of shifting blame onto others and refusing to take
responsibility for her failures. But Prussing is a team player
and continued to cover up for his boss. “The Mayor works
very hard and we are trying to get this resolved as quick as we
can. People have no idea how much this mayor has done for the
City.“ he said, continuing to deny the existence of a cash
flow problem or missing money.
“I have been loyal to Patty and she knows it,” Prussing
naively said when warned of his impending fate. “Of course
he is,” responded a city councilor who did not want to be
named, “he’s a puppet for the mayor, he lies for her at
meetings and now he’s going to take a bullet for her and
lose his job to cover her behind, maybe it’s poetic
justice.” the councilors concluded.
Dowling, however, was quoted in the daily paper, saying it was
Carl Prussing’s fault because he is the guy a the top, and
would not rule out disciplinary action against him. Pay attention
now, this is important: The Mayor signs the bills and spends the
money, the Mayor is the ‘chief executive officer of the
city’ the Mayor is the one legally responsible for your tax
bills, not Carl Prussing. Mr. Prussing is working without a
contract and only does what the mayor tells him to do. He is no
different than a DPW worker when it comes to doing what he is
told. Apparently, despite his naive loyalty, Prussing will be the
next sacrificial lamb on the Patty Dowling hit list.
The Mayor has a budget and finance department, the tax assessors
office, the comptrollers office, the tax collectors office, the
treasurers office, and two (that we know of) consulting firms to
handle the finances of the city. But, now Dowling wants to hire
another accounting firm (I wonder why the daily paper
doesn’t call them consultants?) on top of the city hall
departments and the consultants she already pays to do the job.
According to our source in the Mayor’s office, these new
consultants are being hired to “find” that Carl
Prussing is responsible for this tax mess so that the Mayor can
escape blame and responsibility, free and clear. That’s why
Dowling is hiring yet another consultant. Our source told Rumbo
that Dowling is not hiring another accounting (consulting) firm
to fix the problem she is bringing them on board to assign blame
and shift the focus away from her office.
As of April 1, 2000, the January tax bills are three months late,
and the second quarter tax bills, due today, are also being held
hostage by the Department of Revenue until the Mayor can find the
missing funds. “I don’t know why they are skirting the
issue“ said our source at DOR. The state doesn’t hold
any city’s tax bills for a three months over a paperwork
problem. There is a serious problem with the city’s finances
and I don’t see how they can deny it at this point.”
With the state trying to takeover the school system, Eugene
Thayer and Suzanne Piscitello running the school committee, the
tax bills being held hostage by the state, the Gaskins situation
still looming, law suits being filed against the city in court,
(1.2 million from what I hear) the Department of Revenue auditing
the Mayors spending, the City Council investigating the Mayors
Consultants, and a crime wave of 11 businesses being burglarized
on Essex Street, Lawrence citizens would feel comforted by the
idea that Patty Dowling is working overtime to solve these
critical issues. Mayor Dowling could not be reached for comment
last week because she was on vacation.