Mount Vernon Sues its Own Comptroller to Pay $1 Million Owed to Vendors

Attorneys for the Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon have gone to court to force Comptroller Deborah Reynolds to pay more than $1 million owed to vendors who do business with the city.

Since taking office in January 2018, the Comptroller has caused an almost 10-fold increase in the backlog of unpaid bills to vendors, causing critical operations, such as Civil Service tests for firefighters, legal services needed to defend the city, and examinations of contaminated dirt at Memorial Field to grind to halt because of non-payment of bills. Two Department of Public Works trucks, one used to fix street lights, have been repossessed.

The mandamus action, which provides a legal remedy to force government officials to do their jobs, cites the Comptroller for “refusing to issue payment, rejecting duly approved and prepared requests for payment, imposing additional requirements to the payment process, which are contrary to the Charter … and refusing to inform other City officials of the status of payment of approved invoices.”

Mayor Richard Thomas said that Comptroller Reynolds’ refusal to perform her duties has created a crisis around the city’s current operations, as well as its future prosperity.

Mayor Richard Thomas stated that: “It is my highest obligation to protect the credit of the City of Mount Vernon and assure that taxpayer dollars are being spent on essential services and that the city is paying its obligations. I am working with the City Council to advance Memorial Field and comply with federal and state demands to end environmental hazards. Companies who in good faith provide services to the city have to be paid on a timely basis. Taxpayer funds are not the private property of any government official. It is a sad day when we have to resort to the courts to get the Comptroller to do her sworn duties and pay the city’s bills.”

The amount of unpaid bills has increased from $136,359 in December of 2017 to $1,117,520 in June and has continued to grow. The negative consequences extend across municipal departments and beyond to small business owners and taxpayers.

“Comptroller Reynolds has refused to pay over $1 million in bills, many of them from small business owners who provided services to the City in good faith expecting to be paid promptly,” said Adam Browser, the attorney representing Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon. “Some of those business owners are now refusing to provide services to the City. The Comptroller’s failure to pay invoices approved by appropriate City officials is also hindering the ability of the City to defend itself in many lawsuits. As a result, the City faces financial consequences and taxpayers could end up paying, via tax increases, for the Comptroller’s actions.”

LINK TO LAWSUIT HERE: http://bit.ly/ComptrollerBillsLawsuit