Audit reveals $7.29 million deficit under prior City Administration

VICKSBURG, Miss.(VDN) — An independent audit of the City of Vicksburg, Mississippi’s finances for fiscal year 2024 shows the previous City administration spent $7.29 million more than it took in, a deficit incurred under the previous administration and documented in the City’s Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024.

According to Mayor Willis Thompson’s Office, the audit shows total revenues of approximately $64.79 million while total expenses reached $72.08 million, resulting in a $7.29 million shortfall. Governmental operations alone exceeded revenues by more than $4.6 million, reflecting spending practices that consistently exceeded available resources during the final fiscal year of the previous, and recently defeated, administration.

The audit shows that City utility operations were also not self-sustaining during the same period. Funds including water, sewer, gas, sanitation, and related business activity services recorded a combined operating loss of over $2.6 million in FY2024 alone, despite Mississippi law emphasizing that municipally owned utilities should be primarily self-supporting through user charges and fees, rather than relying on taxpayer subsidies.

The audit also documents significant internal control deficiencies that had not been corrected despite being identified in a 2017 forensic audit. One of the failures involved police fines, court fees, and traffic-related receipts, which were tracked in a separate, non-integrated system at the Police Department rather than the City’s official MUNIS accounting system. Auditors noted they were unable to trace total receipts to individual tickets or account for all cash collected, stating that initial cash receipt tickets were recorded outside the City’s management and accounting system, preventing full reconciliation and accountability for taxpayers. Despite that finding, it’s reported that the previous administration refused to correct the issue by hiring an internal auditor or implementing the recommended controls.

Additionally, under normal circumstances, trial balances should have been prepared and made available by the previous administration by June 30, 2025. That deadline passed before the new administration took office, leaving the City without required financial documentation on file with Moody’s Investors Service.

Newly elected Mayor Willis Thompson said the combination of unchecked spending, unresolved internal control failures, and missed reporting deadlines left the City in a severely weakened financial position when he entered City Hall.

“These are not new discoveries or political interpretations,” Thompson said. “These are documented findings that reflect years of irresponsible decisions and inaction before the current administration took office. All I can say is, if citizens ran their households the way the previous administration ran our city government, there would be a lot of folks in a lot of trouble. We can’t have a double standard for some people just because they were in positions of power.”

The independent audit further shows the City’s unrestricted net position is $91,586,780. The City is presently applying for a new bond rating, with the new administration continuing to undertake a comprehensive review of internal controls, financial reporting systems, spending practices, and long-term obligations.

“I was elected to restore accountability, protect taxpayer dollars, and ensure City Hall operates with transparency and integrity,” Thompson said. “As long as I’m mayor, we’re going to follow the law.”

On December 24, 2025, Mayor Thompson established a committee to conduct a comprehensive physical inventory of all City-owned fixed assets, including buildings, equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure. The committee is charged with overseeing the City inventory process, compiling an updated registry of all fixed assets with acquisition dates and costs, improving the City’s asset management system, evaluating enhancements to fixed-asset reporting, tracking disposals and transfers, and presenting the completed inventory to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen upon completion.

“We can’t responsibly manage our finances, plan for the future, or safeguard taxpayer dollars without knowing what we own and where those assets are located. Establishing a complete and accurate inventory of City property is a basic, commonsense step toward responsible government,” Thompson said.

“We’re cleaning up the City’s finances and better accounting for how public funds have been managed in the past. Unfortunately, we’re now living with the results of those past actions, but we’re restoring order, accuracy, and public confidence for the people of Vicksburg because they deserve nothing less.”

The negative unrestricted net position of $221,334,033 represents an accumulation of charges to the net position of the City of Vicksburg after capital assets were recorded in the records and accounts of the City since its inception. However, the audit report for FY 2024 shows the City’s unrestricted net position is $91,586,780 as of September 30, 2024. This figure includes total assets of $279,007,760 less total liabilities and deferred inflows of $187,420,982, resulting in an unrestricted net position of $91,586,780.

This ending unrestricted net position of $91,586,780 is composed of a positive beginning net position from the prior fiscal year of $92,604,424, the loss from the net position change for the fiscal year of $7,263,121, and a prior period adjustment from FY 2024 of $6,245,478.

The financial statements of the City reflect recorded assets of $7,528,062 for deferred outflows of resources and unrecorded liabilities for the pension liability at 9/30/2024 of $83,041,240, and a deferred credit of resources of $248,939 for leases and IT subscriptions, which creates a Statement of Net Position for an unrestricted amount of $221,334,033. In other words, the recording of all deferred outflows and inflows of resources in the Statement of Net Position, as required by current accounting standards, creates a negative $221,334,033 for the unrestricted fund. This presentation of facts reflects current accounting standards.