WATSONVILLE, Calif. -- The Santa Cruz County Grand Jury, a group of watchdog volunteers, released a report Thursday on the City of Watsonville.
The audit concluded Watsonvillle isn't doing a good job of managing its money, and the city isn't transparent about the decisions it does make on the budget.
New Mayor Lowell Hurst said it doesn't take a genius to know the city is hurting financially.
"We're not a rich city and you don't need a $90,000 dollar report to determine that," he said.
The mayor takes issue with some parts of the report, saying some calculations weren't accurate.
"I don't know that their comparisons are really valid because of the shopping malls in other cities and industrial base in other cities, and the location and the demographic of other cities are different as well," he said.
Auditors said the city's financial decision-making process also lacks consistent policies and procedures, and some budget changes were never made public, or even approved by the council.
Hurst said the allegations aren't true, although he recognizes the city needs to update its policies. That's where the money hurdle comes up again.
"We're not a rich city," he said. "We don't have a lot of extra money to buy extra help and to be able to have the latest in software."
City leaders said while they agree with many of the recommendations, they don't feel the Grand Jury truly understands the situation in Watsonville.
"We're going to be doing things differently," Hurst said. "We're going to try our best to comply with the advice."
Watsonville City leaders will take a closer look at the report at their public meeting on Jan. 22.
They plan to update and upgrade the city's financial policies and procedures.
