Dumfries council pushes Town Manager for greater financial transparency

A Dumfries Town Councilwoman is calling for greater transparency when it comes to how public funds are spent.

During last night’s Town Council meeting, Councilwoman Cydny Neville called for Town Manager Keith Rogers to require the town treasurer to come before the Town Council at least four times a year, to provide a presentation on the state of the town’s finances.

The quarterly reports should include detailed information like audit reports and check request statements, Neville said. The move is an effort for the council to see better how Rogers is spending its cash, said the councilwoman.

The quarterly reports would be in addition to basic financial statements Rogers already provides the council and uploads to the town website each month for the public.

“The quarterly reports I’m asking for used to [be presented] to the council every month,” said Neville.

“I do think the citizens would benefit from the quarterly presentations,” Councilwoman Selonia Miles said, backing Neville’s request.

Neville is pushing for greater financial transparency as the council prepares to enter its annual budget deliberations. Last year, Rogers and Mayor Derrick Wood shielded from public view the salaries of town employees, which was included in prior year budgets.

“We used to get every individual salary listed in the budget instead of lumping every position together [into one lump sum],” said Neville.

Lumping the salaries together has made it impossible for residents to see the wages for those in authority, including Rogers, as well as the town’s police chief and zoning administrator.

PLN asked to see the salary information last year in a Freedom of Information Act Request filed in 2020. Rogers responded and required that this news organization pay $400 to obtain the report, which it did not agree to do.

Last night, Rogers pushed back on Neville’s request for additional transparency.

“That is a burden on the staff that I don’t want to really accept. I just wanted to put that out there,” said Rogers.

Last year, we reported Dumfries saw a 944% increase in revenues in its annual budget from charges related to Freedom of Information Act requests from the public.

Neville made the call for greater transparency during a discussion of new rules of procedure for the Town Council. The call was reminiscent of similar requests made by former Town Council members Charles Brewer and Melva Willis, whose terms ended in December.

The new rules were ultimately approved by the governing body. The new rules are a first for the governing body, which is tasked with managing the 1.5-square mile town, the largest in Prince William County.