The Town of Davenport took in less than half of its collections, according to Treasurer Whitney Clanton, at its regular meeting on April 14.
During her report, Clanton said the total due is $32,928.63, but they were only able to collect $11,857.66 due to inadequate documentation prior to her taking office. This leaves $21,071.57 to be collected. She also noted that financials have been “messy”formanyyearsand that they were rebuilding them from scratch.
Treasurer Clanton reported a few months ago that payroll taxes hadn’t been filed since the second quarter of 2022, and since filing in December, they’ve been receiving letters from the IRS for penalties and fees, with the total coming to $15,310.85, including interest. Letters have been signed by Mayor Jennifer Miller asking for forgiveness, though Clanton noted that the interest ($1,829.83) must be paid. The Board voted to pay the interest and wait to hear back on the letters.
The Town went over a letter they received from Regina Riley regarding data centers, and Mayor Miller stated that the Town of Davenport has not been contacted by Geronimo in any form and that they found out about the center on social media, like everyone else. Riley then spoke, outlining her concerns about the centers.
The Board voted to put a line item on the FY ‘27-27 budget with the flexible rate for retirement benefits for city employees. They also approved moving the town’s Fourth of July celebration at North Park to July 3 and having the Route 66 Music Festival in North Park on Oct. 3-4, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
The Board voted to table discussions on the North Park neon sign, though it was agreed that it would stay in North Park, pending ODOT’s code approval.
Ofc. Buznik spoke about getting a K9 unit in Davenport, and the Town voted to look further into it, asking Buznik to give them a written agreement or proposal that the city attorney could look over. He also spoke about the police station and a report by Tark Engineering, saying it was repairable. Buznik also reported that the City of Harrah donated two new car radios and five or six handheld radios, The Board voted to further look into installing dash cams on all city vehicles and tabled declaring two vehicles as surplus until they could get a KBB or NADA value for the minimum bit so they can initiate the sealed bid process.They also voted to add a notary fee of $5 per signature.
Grant Writer Leslie Wilbourn gave updates on the town’s grants and the Davenport Welcome Center.