[Durham INC] let's help the City with ideas...

Sat Mar 6 17:54:22 EST 2010

Just an fyi.

Randy's idea isn't so far fetched.

Many, many neighborhoods in Durham do not have a park in their neighborhood while some others have two, three and even four.

In some neighborhood parks (much like Duke Park) there may be facilities (clubhouses/pavilions/storage buildings) that the City no longer has funds to maintain let alone improve in their Capital Improvement Plan.

It may be worth taking a look at all of these facilities and see where cost savings and innovative thinking might benefit not only the City budget this year but also help communities and neighborhoods who are willing to pull up their sleeves and take responsibility for them instead of depending on an annual budget allocation City.  Which,by the way, has been falling short a lot lately over the past several years.

Some of these parks are no larger than a residential lot but still require routine maintenance and periodic updating of equipment.

In those neighborhoods fortunate to have 'an excess' of parks it might be time for Durham to offer them to non-profit groups first, then if there are no takers,  place them on surplus property for sale to get them off the 'maintenance tread mill' while improving the chances of increasing the tax base a little.

While a number of newer subdivisions have popped up over the past ten to twenty years with common property trails and green spaces,  there remains a number of older traditional neighborhoods that still have to drive some distance to get to a place they can get some R&R.

While geographical equity may not be completely possible in the near term,  looking at where long term cost benefits might be realized may be an option instead of raising property taxes all across the city.

Mike Shiflett

> From: matt.dudek at gmail.com
> To: scjdurham at aol.com
> Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 11:32:41 -0500
> CC: inc-list at durhaminc.org
> Subject: Re: [Durham INC] let's help the City with ideas...
> 
> Cheryl,
> 
> I think those ideas are great. I'm curious though, aren't there 
> property tax protections and support available for those on SSI and 
> limited incomes? I remember my grandparents took advantage of the STAR 
> program which I belive is a federal program.
> 
> Additionally, Durham has already cut a large number of employees these 
> past two years and further cuts will only be more counterproductive 
> without specifically looking at the performance of individual programs.
> 
> And finally, I believe Mr. Pickle was being facetious in suggesting we 
> sell off our parks, but this would only bring one time profits and we 
> would be selling valuable land at depressed values and in a bad market.
> 
> I think there have been few responses not because people don't care 
> about this issue, but because it is very complicated and can't be 
> solved by budget cuts without more information and a better 
> understanding of the full picture.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Matt Dudek
> 
> 502 mallard ave.
> Cleveland-Holloway
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 6, 2010, at 11:17 AM, scjdurham at aol.com wrote:
> 
> > Here's a novel idea. Let's raise occupancy taxes on hotel rooms, 
> > bring back that prepared food tax, come up with some sort of 
> > entertainment tax, etc.
> >
> > A huge percentage of non-Durhamites come here to work and take their 
> > money home to their municipality. But we pay to protect them when 
> > they're here including police, fire, EMS and don't forget about the 
> > road use going back and forth from their city to ours. They are 
> > very welcome here but it would be nice if they paid their fair share.
> >
> > Some of the above items would be listed under discretionary 
> > spending. Folks can decide whether it's how they want to spend 
> > their excess $$ or not.
> >
> > Property taxes really hurt those on limited incomes, living on their 
> > social security benefits, living on unemployment compensation or who 
> > have just timed out their unemployment or simply can not secure a 
> > higher paying job.
> >
> > Food for thought.
> >
> > Cheryl Shiflett
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Randy Pickle <rwpickle at gmail.com>
> > To: inc-list at durhaminc.org
> > Sent: Fri, Mar 5, 2010 2:17 am
> > Subject: [Durham INC] let's help the City with ideas...
> >
> > to make the budget ends meet. I've been saying this everywhere I go. 
> > Surely as a collective unit we can tell them where we see pork or 
> > come up with some place to save some cash.
> >
> > Here's my 3 ideas:
> >
> > 1) We have a fleet of new garbage trucks; they have yet to get the 
> > massive graphics package that you regularly see on the trash can end 
> > of the truck. So what... We all know it's a garbage truck. Leave the 
> > fancy graphics off. Maybe that will even help with resale...
> >
> > 2) Fleet says we have 2100 units in service as a City; 500 are fire 
> > and safety. Let's leave those alone. That still leaves us 1600 
> > units. Let's cut that by 25% (down to 1200 units). Between the fuel, 
> > maintenance, and gift giving of them to other cities, that's bound 
> > to be a big figure... Fleet told Budget they needed $7M this next 
> > year. When ask how they came to that figure they were told the 
> > computer program they use told them. Budget told them to tell the 
> > computer to figure out how to pay for them since it was so smart and 
> > reduced it to $1M.
> >
> > 3) Employees... IBM laid off a 1000 workers recently. It's the 
> > fastest way to make government leaner (and with less vehicles, that 
> > works out as well). I personally would help add some of those 
> > employees to a list (since I have found recently that some seem to 
> > take their jobs for granted). There's no tenure in government and 
> > some off the folks we have working for us have fallen into a comfort 
> > zone where they just think showing up enough. As far as I know, we 
> > still think of it as work. And it's time to get back to it...
> >
> > We started off the budget process with a $16M gap; at the 
> > neighborhood Engagement Workshop we heard it was $13M; in the budget 
> > prep meetings this week it's now down to $8+M. So we're getting there.
> >
> > Send me your ideas (not your jokes about it all; be serious) and 
> > I'll forward them on to their targeted individuals. Maybe someone 
> > out there has just the idea that will make it all work. Otherwise 
> > get ready to pay more in property taxes. They never seem to go down, 
> > only up... And you have to pay them every year... So once they go 
> > up, we're stuck.
> >
> > RWP
> > 27 Beverly_______________________________________________
> > Durham INC Mailing List
> > list at durham-inc.org
> > http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html
> >
> >
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