Patterson council enlists help for budget work

PATTERSON — The City Council on Tuesday, working without a city accountant, is calling in some help with preparing the 2024-25 budget.
The council also voted to support Mayor Rodney Grogan’s request for a special meeting Monday to get a first look at the completed budget.
Also Tuesday, the council approved a zoning variance that will make room for a seven-lot mobile home park.
The council is working on the budget without City Accountant Reginald Weary, who resigned last month to accept another position.
The proposed budget for next year wasn’t in shape for introduction by the time Weary left. He told the council that he was awaiting key information, including property assessment data and the results of the 2023 audit.
On Tuesday, the council agreed to hire Pam Washington to help Alan Taylor and the city staff with budget preparation.
Neither Taylor nor Washington is currently a city employee, but both have experience working with city finances.
Council members Miranda Weinbach and DeMale Bowden were also asked to serve as a committee to consider the hiring of a part-time certified public accountant.
The last year has been a tough one for the Patterson city budget. The city engaged in a round of belt-tightening to stretch the budget as it dealt with unexpected design expenses related to infrastructure projects.
Now, Grogan told the council, “I see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
The mobile home park will be at the corner of Martin Luther King and Myrtle.
The property, said Planning & Zoning Director William Gil, is 9/10 of an acre. City zoning rules require a tract of at least an acre for mobile home parks, so owners Bobby and Patricia Jennings asked the council for a variance.
On Gil’s recommendation, the council granted the variance and then voted to allow the mobile home park.
Gil said a one-acre tract could have as many as 10 lots, but the Jennings plans call for only seven and include a green space.