If a contest was held for the least transparent city government in the U.S., the small town of Williamson, West Virginia would have to be considered a strong contender.

Williamson’s latest turn to the dark side came last week, when its city council held a “special meeting” to pass the first draft of its 2018-19 budget. According to Travis Crum of the Williamson Daily News, the council approved the budget and submitted it to the State Auditor’s Office “after receiving no public input and holding little discussion amongst themselves” about the fiscal plan.

Here’s more from Crum, a deft purveyor of understatement: