INC NEWS - Why buy a Digital bigscreen TV when your roof leaks?

[Mike - Hotmail]

It continues to amaze me that with all the talk over the past several years 
about the city needing money to deal with just the burden of maintaining 
what we've got,  four out of the seven  city council members believe that 
reserving a cool one million dollars for the planning of something new is 
justified!!!!!!

Come on now!

There are dozens of parks (and yes even a pool or two) that need money just 
for upkeep!

But building something new when the city doesn't even have money to maintain 
what it's got AND jeopardizing our superior credit rating for something that 
it might not even build is disgraceful fiduciary husbandry!

It's also a slap in the face to the professional staff and administrators 
who've recommended more thoughtful consideration.

Mike Shiflett


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RW Pickle" <randy at 27beverly.com>
To: <inc-list at durhaminc.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 3:57 AM
Subject: INC NEWS - Bull... Agent James Bull - 0057


> This years budget process reminded me of the James Bond movies of the past
> with much less excitement, but perhaps a lot more daring. Where's Risk
> Management when you need them... (not that the administration listens to
> the employees or the citizens; some of them know much more I guess...).
>
> .0057 is the figure that the budget was reduced by; $10 on a $200,000
> house is what it would have cost us. Hardly a box of cereal and a gallon
> of milk these days. But the outcome could perhaps cost us millions.
>
> When the tax rate was reduced and the money borrowed from our savings
> account to make the ends meet, like Finance Director Keith Hermann
> suggested, it sent up a red flag that all was not well in the City full of
> bull. If in fact he is right, and our valued credit rating of AAA is
> reduced (we're only one of 19 cities nationally who have coveted rating),
> the rate we pay on the money we borrow will cost us more; millions more.
> Just to put it in perspective, raising the tax rate one penny raises $2.1
> million dollars. If we lose the AAA rating and pay more in interest (not
> just this year but in years to come), that $.0057 will have cost us a lot
> more; $3 million more just this year alone! And we're the ones who will
> end up paying for it as well. So why did Council do it? I don't have a
> crystal ball that'll see through the bull to tell me. But realistically,
> it makes no sense. It may end up costing us (the tax payers) a lot more
> than the half a penny would have cost us now.
>
> The reality of it all is that the rate went the wrong way. For example,
> the Capital Improvement Budget this year was roughly $147 million. We only
> had $30 million to spend on it, so we came up short by roughly $117
> million. This is about the same figure ($110 million) we didn't include in
> the last $100+ million dollar bond issue that was passed by the citizens.
> Except now, it has grown by $7 million... And it'll continue to grow every
> year we do not get these things done!
>
> If we were going to go any direction with the tax rate, just looking at
> the Capital projects (roofs on buildings, park repairs, fire stations, and
> the list goes on...), the tax rate should have increased by more than $.58
> (to a $1.12). Instead we went the other way and risked our good fortune to
> have it set now at $.54. No wonder it's hard to get it all done. There
> just isn't enough money to go around. Some would say we waste a lot of it
> already and just adding more to waste would be a waste in itself. But
> seeing the real costs of what we have and what we need year after year,
> there's just not enough there to fix it all.
>
> It was suggested earlier this week that perhaps Durham has reached a
> critical threshold of having enough money to keep everything it has in
> good shape; that our growth, repairs, and needs are not sustainable. I'd
> suggest that those funds haven't been there for a long time to do this and
> the longer we wait, the more it costs. I've heard it for years... don't
> build it if you can't take care of it. Lack of maintenance got us into
> this mess (because of lack of funds) and there is no light at the end of
> the tunnel that many of us can see coming. Repairs just never get any
> better...
>
> I had a conversation with our Solid Waste Director this week. I ask him
> what he was going to do with the 9 new yard waste truck that are coming
> (it takes 15-18 months to get these trucks so they were ordered a while
> ago). There are also 4 additional knuckle boom trucks coming. All of this
> was in anticipation of rolling out a comprehensive solid waste plan many
> of us in INC worked towards about 3 years ago. This is over $2.5 million
> in trucks (already paid for)coming for a program the City Council cut out
> of the budget. This is the kind of planning none of us need... Save a half
> a penny here to waste a whole lot more there. It makes no sense if you're
> counting your pennies.
>
> I'm like you, I hate taxes. But the reality of it all is that it costs to
> keep this stuff we've built over the years and there's just not enough
> coming in to do it. There are hard choices to be made and we need leaders
> who will make them. Otherwise it'll all catch up with us sooner (as it
> has) or later (and cost us more). Reducing our tax rate by $.0057 was a
> stupid thing to do. That was not leadership.
>
> RWP
> 27 Beverly
>
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