Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo and seven other current and former officials of the embattled city in southern Los Angeles County are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning at L.A. Superior Court in Downtown.

Rizzo, former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, City Council members Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal and former council members Luis Artiga, George Cole and Victor Bello are charged with misappropriating more than $5.5 million in public funds. Rizzo is charged with 53 crimes in all, including conflict of interest and falsification of public records by an official custodian.

The group's arraignment had been scheduled for Sept. 22, but Rizzo's attorney requested a delay because he needed more time to review the charges with his client. The eight officials had been arrested and charged the day before.

Also on Sept. 22, California state controller John Chiang released an audit finding that the city "nearly doubled taxes for sewer, trash, recycling and lighting districts in 2007 without voter approval." A fifth of the new $5.6 million in revenue covered pay raises for Rizzo and Spaccia.

On Wednesday, Chiang released a second audit about Bell, showing that nearly $500,000 in city redevelopment agency funds enriched Rizzo, Spaccia and fellow city official Lourdes Garcia.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, California Attorney General Jerry Brown and the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors have each opened up their own investigations of Bell as well.

The future of the city's government remains in limbo.

And speaking of Bell, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman will be four miles away from Bell City Hall when she visits a factory in the City of Carson on Thursday morning.

Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter: @peard33.