NEELYVILLE - The mayor of Neelyville has resigned after being accused of misusing thousands of dollars in city money since 2019 to pay for monthly Netflix subscriptions, Apple accounts and other personal expenses. A federal investigation has been opened into the matter, according to city officials.
Kevin Bynum, 48, of Neelyville was elected mayor in 2017.
He was asked by a Neelyville resident at the city’s Oct. 27 city council meeting if he had misused any city money, according to a public record obtained by the DAR.
Bynum responded he had, “it was a mistake,” and assured the resident and those in attendance that he was “trying to make it right,” according to the document.
“(Bynum) said he is going to resign because of it and because he was tired of hearing about it,” the council meeting’s transcribed minutes indicated. “Bynum stated he is going to make a payment arrangement to pay it back.”
Councilwoman Vicki Lecroy “informed the crowd there was more to the story than what was being told,” the minutes stated. “(Bynum) asked if he could pay back $100 monthly since he will not be working as many hours due to winter coming, but said that if he is able to, he will pay more.
“All members but (Lecroy) voted yes to this,” according to the minutes. “(Lecroy) said she was not comfortable with this. (Bynum) also asked for the amount of how much he owes.”
That total is undetermined and the federal investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is in process and incomplete, city councilman John Knowles and city clerk Jenna Davis confirmed Friday.
Hundreds of invoices were obtained Friday by the DAR through a Freedom of Information request.
They come from a U.S. Bank Visa debit card issued to the city, which allegedly was only in Bynum’s possession. Transactions recorded on the invoices include automatic payments of a monthly charge from Netflix for $17.99, Apple Services for $7.99, Sony Interactive for $19.99 and other bills that were also paid automatically by the city credit card. The documents are dated from 2019 to present.
Bynum was contacted Thursday concerning the matter. Bynum said he wasn’t interested in talking, but after consideration agreed to respond once the city issued an official statement.
Messages left Friday for Bynum were not returned. Messages left Friday for the Internal Revenue Service agent investigating the case were also not returned.
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