© April 12, 2002

Hampton Roads Transit's financial outlook has improved, but the problems are far from being fixed.

HRT's commission learned Thursday that what could have been a $1.2 million deficit from last year's budget has shrunk to about $86,800. Figures won't be ready until next month.

``Information's gotten lost, and we've had to manually figure out where it's gone,'' HRT chairman W. Randy Wright, a Norfolk city councilman, said after the meeting.

Member cities aren't able to get reliable financial information from month to month.

Hampton Roads Transit's financial outlook has improved, but the problems are far from being fixed.

HRT's commission learned Thursday that what could have been a $1.2 million deficit from last year's budget has shrunk to about $86,800. Figures won't be ready until next month.

``Information's gotten lost, and we've had to manually figure out where it's gone,'' HRT chairman W. Randy Wright, a Norfolk city councilman, said after the meeting.

Member cities aren't able to get reliable financial information from month to month.

``Every day we're finding something new that needs to be resolved,'' Wright said.

The commission also just learned that $2.7 million in employee-benefits expenses was dropped from the current budget. HRT President Michael Townes said money was found to cover the error because the agency overbudgeted in fuel and labor costs and underestimated revenue collections.

The transit agency is struggling to manage a $50 million budget with a 25-year-old computer accounting system that doesn't provide current financial data and requires some manual work. In addition, the agency's longtime chief financial officer, the only one who knew the system well, retired more than a year ago.

The board last month approved spending $5.2 million on a computer system that should help keep its finances straight. It will be installed beginning next month but won't be fully operating for a year.

Meanwhile, HRT has brought in a team of financial consultants to help straighten out the mess. They're working on closing out the books on the fiscal year that ended in October 2001, managing the current budget and preparing a budget for next year.

``We've got the very best people in the country working on it,'' Wright said. ``They've got carte blanche -- get it fixed, we don't care about the costs.''

To close last year's budget gap, Townes said, the agency found $400,000 in grant money that was never posted and moved $800,000 from a reserve account that wasn't supposed to be accumulating.

Virginia Beach councilman and HRT commissioner W.D. ``Will'' Sessoms said he was discouraged that the finances have taken so much staff and commission time.

``The budget process shouldn't be this painful,'' he said. ``I'm worn out going through this stuff.

``I think we really need to get our act together.''

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-- Anonymous, April 13, 2002