GREENVILLE, Mo. -- The city of Greenville is no longer in debt, a little more than a year after a newly elected Board of Aldermen said it could face bankruptcy.
A final payment of approximately $7,000 was made early this month to the federal government for back taxes, according to Mayor Carroll Rainwater and city clerk Judy Osburn.
Rainwater and other council members elected in April 2016 said at that time the city had almost $160,000 in unpaid bills.
An investigation into the city's finances is still underway by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Rainwater said this week.
"We've given them everything they need. We're waiting on them," Rainwater said.
Work done for the city by a certified public accountant was completed in July and expected to be turned over to the patrol by August. City officials have said they do not have any information from that report to share with the public at this time.
It will be up to the patrol how they do their investigation, Rainwater said.
A request was made to the patrol in April 2016 by the Wayne County prosecutor for the investigation of what the agency was told could be $100,000 in missing city funds.
The city will focus now on rebuilding cash reserves, according to Rainwater and Osburn, who has volunteered her time to the city since May 2016.
"The mayor, the aldermen, none of them take their pay either," said Osburn. "Everybody is just working together, really hard. ... The community has pitched in too."
Outstanding debt in 2016 included financing of a new tractor, which has since been sold, and bills dating back to 2009 for state and federal employee withholding taxes, officials have said.
Among the first actions after the new council took office was a vote not to pay the city's monthly bills because of lack of funds.
Several city employees, including the city clerk, city police chief and other officers, and city attorney, were let go or replaced following that vote.
Cost cutting has been attributed to helping the city recover. Penalties for late employee withhold taxes were also forgiven by the state and federal government.
One police officer position and two employees for the water and sewer department, as well as a part-time water and sewer department supervisor are all that remain of the city's staff.
"We don't have any (cash) reserves," Rainwater said. "We need to build the reserves for the water department and the sewer department ... and go from there."