Citizens crowd Brownsville City Hall, demand answers about city funds

HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — There was uproar Friday morning at Brownsville City Hall after a special called meeting involving city finances.

Residents weren’t allowed to ask questions or voice their concerns during the meeting. They stayed afterward to demand answers.

“A loss of money and a misuse of money and raising the taxes is something we don’t need,” Haywood County resident Eddie Martin said.

Martin called for Brownsville Mayor Bill Rawls to step down after learning the city is running low on cash.

“He needs to resign. He needs to resign today,” Martin said.

Mayor Rawls says the general fund balance is low. He said the city had $3.6 million in the bank as of Wednesday.

“Everybody needs to cool off,” Mayor Rawls said. “Everybody needs to calm down so we can get the numbers.”

An auditor says Brownsville had $1.3 million in the general fund on June 30 of this year, down from more than $4 million two years ago.

Rawls told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News after the meeting the general fund had about $500,000 on Wednesday.

“As of Wednesday, it was probably about a half a million dollars on Wednesday,” Rawls said. “We made a deposit yesterday. We haven’t done payroll. It fluctuates from day to day.”

Vice Mayor Leon King says it’s unclear how much money the city has.

“I’ll be the first to say that I haven’t been a good steward to watch the money as close as I should have, the expenditures and stuff like that,” King said.

Aldermen say they may have to borrow millions of dollars, lay off employees and increase taxes — something residents say they’re concerned about.

“I think that we’re in a financial crisis over mismanagement,” Brownsville resident Gordon Perry said.

The mayor says they’re working with accountants and the municipal technical advisory service to come up with a solution.

Residents say they want answers and finance reports for city aldermen.

“I’m wondering why in the world they’re not getting information,” Martin said.

Mayor Rawls confirms city clerk Lisa Brooks is on a 10-day paid administrative leave.

Aldermen say they plan to meet again early next week to talk about the possibility of borrowing money. They haven’t made any definite decisions about a tax increase.