Nearly 12 months after the end of the fiscal year, the City of Chesapeake has discovered $14 million in revenues it didn’t know it had. I’m not really sure how that could have happened. Like all cities, Chesapeake was audited last year and the audit report for the year ended June 30, 2005 was issued on November 4, 2005. All financial statements include estimates but I am surprised that it has taken this long for the estimated amounts to have been realized and that the estimates were this far off.
In any event, the question now is what to do with the money, or at least the amount left after allocating $7.2 million for school maintenance projects and the $1.4 million already spent on land purchases in South Norfolk.
My two cents: give it back to the citizens of Chesapeake. Since the money came from all different sources, everybody deserves a break. Take the money, divide it by the number of people in the city, and send everybody a check. Chesapeake has about 215,000 residents, so that’s about $25 for every woman, man and child in the city. Think of the goodwill $25 per person will buy.
Besides, if they spend it at a Chesapeake restaurant or in a Chesapeake mall, the city will get some of it back.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 