According to finance director Ann Stokey, proceeds from the City Lights Festival were given to the school system in the past for safe keeping, with the intention being to use the funds to help build a fine arts facility.
The problem, she says, is there are no documents that can be found that indicate what the money is for, or who the money belongs to.
The money actually came from two sources. Proceeds from the City Lights Festival — up until last year when it became the City Lights Downtown Festival — went toward the construction of a Bill Anderson Center for the Performing Arts, named after the country music legend whose star-studded concerts were the centerpiece of the festival. The organizing group was an unofficial entity, and Anderson and the committee are not connected to the current City Lights Downtown Festival. But the Commerce City Council also voted to give to the fund the (approximately) $215,000 insurance repayment of money stolen by former (and late) police chief George Grimes. At the end of May, the account held just under $470,000.
The board directed Superintendent Dr. James E. “Mac” McCoy to contact the city of Commerce, asking for a letter stating what the funds were for and how they can be used.
Stokey said another possibility is that the school system could return the money to the city, and let the city decide what to do with the funds. The options would include returning the money to the school system to assist in the planned high school auditorium, or possibly the city building a stand-alone facility.
Stokey said the state’s auditors have questioned why the money is on the board’s books.
