Regular financial audits of the City of Brookhaven are catching up to where they should be, according to certified public accountant James Bellipanni.

Bellipanni, a partner in the Brookhaven CPA firm Lowery, Payn, Leggett & Bellipanni, presented the recently-completed Fiscal Year 2021 audit to the Board of Aldermen and mayor in the March 5 board meeting.

After giving a few minutes’ worth of guidance on how to read the “straightforward audit,” the accountant told the board that the 2022 audit had begun.

“Our goal is to complete one audit every six months, until we are caught up, which will be at the end of 2025,” said Bellipanni. He added that though the firm typically does not work on audits during the annual tax season, they were committed to getting the city up to date as soon as possible.

 

In other business, the Board:

• Approved to reappoint Dr. Vernell Hooker to the Brookhaven Separate School District Board for another 5-year term.
• Accepted the lower quote of $9,000 from Crosby Dirt Services LLC for tree removal and site grading at Hillcrest Cemetery. The other quote was $10,100, from Greenbriar Digging Services.
• Accepted the lower quote of $6,450 from Bane Landscaping for landscaping work at Hillcrest Cemetery. The other quote was $6,750 from Rainbow Landscaping.
• Accepted the lower quote of $14,865 from R. Kelley for a Becker Street retaining wall. The other submitted quote was $16,780, from Greenbriar.
• Approved a resolution for emergency repair to the Virginia Avenue Lift Station.
• Approved to advertise a 60-day Amnesty Program for delinquent City Court fines with a 50-percent discount for fines assessed prior to 2022, with the stipulation that the full discounted rate must be paid.
• Approved to re-hire Lasedrick Kelly as a Street Department laborer at $12.59 per hour, pending drug test and physical.
• Approved to spread on the minutes that Solid Waste Department applicant Martin Jones did not complete the pre-requisites for employment, and therefore the job offer was rescinded.
• Approved a length-of-service pay increase of $1 hourly for Street Department operator Chris Smith, from $15 to $16 hourly.
• Approved a change from part-time to full-time for Certified Patrolman 4 William Tanner Hemby in the Brookhaven Police Department, at an annual salary of $46,500.
• Accepted the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
• Presented a resolution in honor and memory of former Solid Waste Department Supervisor Willie Burt Wilson, who died in February.