Another 10 Questions NOT Being Asked
Yesterday’s posting listed the first ten questions we were HOPING our commission would ask before approving next year’s operating budget. This posting contains another ten questions those we elected failed to ask:
Q. The General Fund "Balance Brought Forward" from this year is $1,275,803 according to the advertised budget. The General Fund "Fund Balances/Reserves/
Yesterday’s posting listed the first ten questions we were HOPING our commission would ask before approving next year’s operating budget. This posting contains another ten questions those we elected failed to ask:
Q. The General Fund "Balance Brought Forward" from this year is $1,275,803 according to the advertised budget. The General Fund "Fund Balances/Reserves/
Net" is $1,696,516…or an increase in the City’s reserves of $420,713? Doesn’t this mean our reserves actually increased? If so, why are you painting such a grim picture of our reserve funds, gouging us on the millage rate and increasing our sewer/garbage rates under the guise of declining reserves?
Q. Has any commissioner ever reviewed IRB’s property insurance policies to determine what is covered and what isn’t before deciding how much the City’s reserves should be?
Q. Is it true that the City pays a substantial amount in property insurance premiums and that EVEN THE PLANTS IN IRB ARE INSURED?
Q. Why would the Mayor vote YES on the budget with a reduction in the police that he didn’t support? (Commissioner Dan Torres held his ground and initially voted NO on the budget, only changing his NO vote to YES when the cops were reinstated.)
Q. What happened to the interest on the $100,000 Sewer Fund emergency reserve since 1993? Were all those monies spent, too? (Section 10.5 of the City Charter says: “Interest on the reserve account shall compound and accrue to this specified reserve fund,” yet no interest accrued!)
Q. Why didn’t any commissioner suggest completely eliminating the librarian—especially after pointing out that her hiring was based on securing grants--and not a single one has materialized?
Q. Why doesn’t any of the info presented jive with the current bank balances?
Q. How can a Finance Director and five commissioners attend a budget meeting without knowing the balance in the bank…to the penny?
Q. How much of our tax money did you (and are you!) paying Rob Garner to sell us a bill of goods?
Q. Is there enough Wesson Oil money in the budget for more Garner "cooking classes"?
BOTTOM LINE: If (big IF) the current bank balances are correct, there’s over a million dollars sitting in the bank—leftover from last year. That's another third as much as the entire expenditures for next year!!
Jacking the millage rate up in challenging economic times--ABOVE the rate staff AND our Finance Board recommended--without knowing (or acknowledging!) the true financial picture, was totally irresponsible.
It’s anyone guess as to how the “hushed up” million will be spent. More sea oats signs? Dune walkovers that obstruct our views? Library expansion? More “plant” insurance? Another gaggle of consultants whose “stories” don’t all match? Another $100K in playground equipment over and above the $100K already allocated? Most of us feel like we’ve been on a merry-go-round anyway…so why not!
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
Q. Has any commissioner ever reviewed IRB’s property insurance policies to determine what is covered and what isn’t before deciding how much the City’s reserves should be?
Q. Is it true that the City pays a substantial amount in property insurance premiums and that EVEN THE PLANTS IN IRB ARE INSURED?
Q. Why would the Mayor vote YES on the budget with a reduction in the police that he didn’t support? (Commissioner Dan Torres held his ground and initially voted NO on the budget, only changing his NO vote to YES when the cops were reinstated.)
Q. What happened to the interest on the $100,000 Sewer Fund emergency reserve since 1993? Were all those monies spent, too? (Section 10.5 of the City Charter says: “Interest on the reserve account shall compound and accrue to this specified reserve fund,” yet no interest accrued!)
Q. Why didn’t any commissioner suggest completely eliminating the librarian—especially after pointing out that her hiring was based on securing grants--and not a single one has materialized?
Q. Why doesn’t any of the info presented jive with the current bank balances?
Q. How can a Finance Director and five commissioners attend a budget meeting without knowing the balance in the bank…to the penny?
Q. How much of our tax money did you (and are you!) paying Rob Garner to sell us a bill of goods?
Q. Is there enough Wesson Oil money in the budget for more Garner "cooking classes"?
BOTTOM LINE: If (big IF) the current bank balances are correct, there’s over a million dollars sitting in the bank—leftover from last year. That's another third as much as the entire expenditures for next year!!
Jacking the millage rate up in challenging economic times--ABOVE the rate staff AND our Finance Board recommended--without knowing (or acknowledging!) the true financial picture, was totally irresponsible.
It’s anyone guess as to how the “hushed up” million will be spent. More sea oats signs? Dune walkovers that obstruct our views? Library expansion? More “plant” insurance? Another gaggle of consultants whose “stories” don’t all match? Another $100K in playground equipment over and above the $100K already allocated? Most of us feel like we’ve been on a merry-go-round anyway…so why not!
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/IRB
7 comments:
Sewer rates were raised 60% to provide funds to pay off the alleged loans from the General Fund. Yet the General Fund has a reported fund balance of $1.275M and cash in the bank is reported to be $1.8m? If a lot of money was loaned to the sewer fund, why are these numbers as high as they were in previious years? If the sewer fund does owe the General Fund some money, why isn's that loan amount shown in the Sewer Fund budget? If the General Fund has money owed to it from the Sewer Fund, why isn't that amount shown in the General Fund budget as a receiveable?
Either something smells or cash is being hoarded for a big expenditure or two, or three..
We tax payers are being hosed with higher than necessary taxes and higher than necessary utility rates.
Obviously the commission does not have faith in the two financial employees we are paying. So they hire accountants and consultants to look everything over?
Madeira Beach is the closes beach community to our size and they have only one financial employee and do not hire consultants.
Maybe we need a new financial person along with a few new commissioners for 2009 and while we are at it maybe we could hire a real city manager.
It only took 2 years for this city to go bankrupt. Take a good look at the culprits. Jose Coppen, Terry Wollin, Bert Valery, and I’m sad to say, in some respects, RB Johnson. As RB fought hard to keep the peace, pulling him away from his duties as a commissioner, Jose, Bert and Terry unleashed their vicious attacks on our previous Mayor and anyone else who opposed them, aided by Leo the Snake, only to result in what we have today. These individuals are selfish, unrighteous, and evil robots for the special interest groups they represent. Take a look. Have Terry and Bert every voted against each other on anything? Look back far enough and you’ll notice Jose sang the same tune. It’s all there in public record.
I would like to thank Cookie Kennedy, Daniel Torres and RB Johnson for at least asking some questions and voting on behalf of the community, not special interest.
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The time has come for transparency and accountability from our elected officials and our local government. The time for ducking answers and failing to ask the questions WE the citizens deserve is over. We can no longer look the other way and pretend to believe that everything will be fine (Yes Wollin, Money will fall from the sky). This commission is balancing a fine line between disaster for our city and culpable behavior by failing to act. When these Doltish individuals fail to act in the best interest of those whom they represent than they are in fact guilty of treason and are acting in behalf of themselves or those who helped elect them. The definition of "Dolt" is "Not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily." To think that not one of those Dolts could formulate a question resembling one of Nancy's is quite alarming. This may explain why they hired the consultant in the first place besides helping them to understand the budget process and the difference between reserve ratios and real dollars. It is reported that Danny T suggested we continue to employ said consultant, how about we get a real finance department and real city manager? The fact that the Mayor did not open the floor to questions for both the consultant and librarian is a disgusting example of a failure to act in the best interest of the city and its citizens. I am talking about hard lined questions to the consultant and all presenters including the commission. To hear them complain that other cities have more respectful citizens who attend meetings and that we are just rude is quite absurd. Yes we have vocal citizens in IRB and Thank God we do or these Dolts would just steam roll legislation right over us. Just because those "Dolts" (Torres not included, he tried) were incapable of logically formulating a question in the sunshine, does not mean they do not discuss it in the shade based on past performance. One might think the Wollin/Valery ticket often enjoys a glass of prune juice to debate who they will look in the eye and how they will vote. We don't need change or more of the same, we need real reform! I think its time for a city wide enema!
Sincerely,
ExLaxed In IRB
Given the facts discovered by Nancy the following questions need answering.
Why doesn't somebody just ask/demand of the Treasurer to explain, in writing and on the record, in an open meeting, why he did what he did and why he did not seek Commission approval?
Why doesn't the Commission just document the borrowing and pay back schedule in a resolution so the rest of us can track what our fee and tax increase money is being used for?
Why doesn't the Commission ask tough questions in public and demand answers in public?
Why don't all these consultants and staff agree on the current status of finances and what happened when?
Will all the hand wringing and sky is falling rhetoric why is this Commission continuing to spend like there is no crisis?
Why is this Commission violating its own purchasing rules to hire consultants who disagree with the other consultants, are the books being cooked?
Why has the Treasurer willing allowed someone else to assume control of the city's books?
Interesting how many folks here have the same name.
a nony mous.
same DNA too?
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