Opinion: S. Tahoe’s budget is not the whole truth
To the community,
I have read City Manager Tony O’Rourke’s letter to the community on the budget. He projects a deficit of $5.2 million and average deficits of $3.4 million “between fiscal years 2012 and 2016.” The problem with the numbers is they can’t be verified. And there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
The city manager said the numbers “showed the need to reduce city expenses to live within our means.” To do so, he proposes a number of moves. He would eliminate 26 city employees. He would bid out city services.
Bill Crawford
But who knows other than the city manager which 26 city employees will be cut. Will he on a whim swing his ax? On bidding out city services, will the city go bid shopping? If so, the end result will be bad news. And who will have oversight on the contracts? Who will see that the contracts aren’t one-sided in favor of the contractor, or that the contracts aren’t breached? The city attorney?
And presently, the contract on the ice area is in a muddle because the city wants to turn Measure S non-taxable bonds into taxable bonds. It can’t be done without voter approval because in 2000 voters approved non-taxable bonds.
Part of projected deficits is a line item of $1.8 million that will go to the state to keep “city development activities” alive. What activities? The $1.8million needn’t be in the budget. It’s padding to inflate the deficit. It’s there to “justify” swinging the ax and bidding out more city services. It is dishonest.
Finally, if the projected savings don’t eliminate the projected deficits, what will the city do? The city manager hasn’t a clue because he’s flying by the seat of his pants upside down. He is a stunt pilot. The five years this and the five that is smoke and mirrors, pure poppycock.
Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe
The City of South Lake Tahoe was incorporated to provide better snow removal, police and fire protection. However, in reviewing the way the City Council spends it’s funds, it is clear that once elected, Council Members divert a major portion of it’s funds to reward supporters instead. As a result, we have at least 15 years of money being robbed from basic services and going instead to special interests, community scams, tourist bureaus, and failed redevelopment schemes.
That last category of redevelopment has cost this town $200 million in Park Ave Bonds and $200 million in unfunded road repairs.
As pointed out by Bill Crawford, the answer being proposed is to blow another $1.8 million on redevelopment, while dumping our dedicated and skilled local city employees so we can bid the work out instead. That might sound good to some, but this City Council has a terrible record of screwing up bidding and ending up with lawsuits and botched work.
Worst of all, the solution being proposed by the City Manager is to continue kicking the can down the road. That’s exactly the kind of mentality that landed us in this ugly mess to begin with.
The real solution is to show some fiscal restraint and focus on core services, keep the $1.8 million and end the horrible damage being done in the name of redevelopment. Finally, the City Council needs to stop using the public treasury as their private ATM for rewarding their supporters.
Its time the city balances its budget and stops operating from reserves. Makes sense to outsource services. Especially when someone else can do a better job. Example would be the fire department, their fire prevention is very poor. It took them six months and 4 phone calls to come to my house to mark hazard trees?
The worst part is that all this annual shortages is NOTHING compared to the unfunded employee benfits packages.
The shell game the government has played on the citizens is outragious. I was a resident of the county so I focused on that prce tag,
It has previously been reported that the unfunded pension plan for the county is $264 million dollars. But that’s just half the issue. See in government they also pay for health insurance and other post employment benefits. All are unfunded and will be added to future tax bills.
According to the county auditors statement as of June 2010 the total unfunded liabilities for the county is 500,000,000 dollars.
That is $2,700 for every county resident. Including the babies and 2 yr olds and 5 yr olds. All of them.
It is in effect turned the citizens of El Dorado County into indenture servants.
I am not sure what the cities liabilities are but I am sure they haven’t told you all of it. I am also sure it’s similar to the counties shortfall.
A new real estate report points to a -16 percent yr over yr loss in median home values in the county. The worst in the region.
It’s not getting better. In fact according to DataQuick, a RE researh firm in August there was a 78 percent increase in mortgage
forclosure default notices. This is likely to lead to further RE declines.
CA Government has betrayed us. I let the Bank have my house back and moved to Incline Village.
NV is working on fixing the problem. CA not so. They are making it worse.
I suggest you Leave while you still can.
Wanna save millions? Then all police and fire protection should be contracted with the county. Did the city manager propose this simple consolidation?
Do not worry, Tahoe’s days are numbered and the end to your corrupt community is coming. The police, D.A. and Public Defenders office already signed the death warrant. Your forced pleas and breaking the laws you enforce upon the people, screw you. You should have done what was right, Judge Finney and Kingsbury. You should have done what was right Rick Myers and Dave Rodgers. And you should have done right all you crooks in the District Attorneys office. Remember this saying Rick “you will never get them to admit the truth, so get over it”. The psychological trauma you did is not that easy to get over. False pleas because of greed is not justice. And the bible says “an eye for an eye”.
When I bankrupt you, then you will explain the truth to the community!!! And when your all in jail for what you did, I hope you get what they hand out to you. Prison justice.
wow, so much negativity!!!
I wonder if steve kubby would be one of the city council people he talks so badly about if he had been elected. so much sour grapes.
I see so many fingers being pointed. It is like the presidency inheriting such a mess from the BUSH years, maybe the present city council is inept but look at who they were following and the mess they inherited. We need more solutions, not more finger pointing.
Nature,
what does the vial treatment by the press of GW have to do with this?
You sound like the brain dead libs that think every thing is GW Bush fault. Wrong.
Get a brain and then use it.
I am soooo tired of the Dingy ignorance of shallow brained liberal sheeple.
What can actually be said to dispute that? What does one say to the lizard brain 25%ers that gets any intelligent response?
GW will be viindicated and loser lefties will drown in their shame.
A great president visiously attacked by loser sheeples that know so little.
Smedly,
such whit and wisdom from you.
Who could expect more, after all it is you?
Informed and reasoned points of view are hard to find around here.
Let’s preempt your reply with a well thought out – Dah?
Wake up South Lake Tahoe !!!! Halliburton and Blackwater (XE) need work.
Contact Liz Cheney, dick@fox.com
I rest my case.
Smedley
You rest what case? You haven’t said anything with relevant.
Alll you said is EMPTY rhetoric that is void of substance and value.
That’s your case?
Yo, Smedley.
Really you do seem a little short on substance. This discussion might be over your head.
The point of the article is the city is full of bull. You don’t come near that issue. You use the term “intelligent response” and then have none.
Eco is right. You sound empty here. Is that your goal? If so, it worked.
The point of the article is that the city management is full of BS. The council actually considered buying a lakefront property this week. The cost of said property is over 4 million dollars! The city manager hasn’t proved that it is necessary to layoff all these frontline service employees.
Check other sources, letters to the editors and speak with service workers.
This council still has the time to NOT layoff workers, still has the time to lessen management salaries and the time to pursue some of the suggested solutions of building community & revenues.
And what’s the rush to privatization? Shouldn’t these hurried ice arena deal have to prove it’s value before handing off other facilities?
The decision to let go 26 employees’s and privatize services is a painful decision to those families and the community. There is nothing good about it. But, we are as a community faced with declining property tax and tax increment revenues. There is a campaign by a few individuals on this site that have taken the lowest of moral roads. They have accused Councilman Davis and Mayor Cole of committing federal crimes. They have accused this city council of profiting developer’s pockets and insinuating payments and favors have been given. Now Mr. Crawford accuses the Finance Director’s financial numbers as “damn lies”. The conspiracy widens. Where is the proof to these accusations? Is there any suggestion by these 2 individuals to increase revenue? Any sales tax increase proposals or toll fee’s on cars entering or leaving Lake Tahoe? Anything? Sour grapes and political aspirations. Allegations of redevelopment “schemes”and a campaign of false information. The city or the RDA put no money into the “convention center” project, but stood to make millions of dollars annually in tax increment and property tax revenue. Where was Mr. Crawford opposition when the times were good and the expectations were high that this project would succeed? Where was his demand that Mr. Lane put up a performance bond to assure the completion of the project? Mr. Kubby continues to scream “failure,fraud and criminal activity” as to the failed Park Avenue bonds and the resulting loan to redevelopment. But that loan has been paid down in half. Also, The Heavenly Village area has produced tax increment and property tax that has generated income for the city that wouldn’t have been there. Mr. O’ Rourke just stated at a recent city council meeting that “redevelopment money has created a surplus that has helped support the General Fund. Those transfers from the RDA to the General Fund include the year 2006: $315,000, 2007: $338,000, 2008: $457,000, 2009: $834,000, 2010: 1,022,000 and the 2011 budgeted amount is $1,300,000, bringing the total to $4,266,000 transferred into the General Fund. This amount does not include the annual $500,000 payback of the loan from the city to the RDA. The last time I looked at the Heavenly project (Park Avenue project) I saw tourist spending money at hotels, retail shops, at the Gondola and the restaurants. It didn’t look like a failed scheme to me. But what Mr. Kubby and Mr. Crawford also won’t tell you is that the State has stolen from Redevelopment another $1,526,000 that could have supported affordable housing for the community. They also wont tell you that the $1.8M payment to the State is coming mostly ($1,200,000) from the low moderate income housing fund. That money was going to build 49 low income apartment units in August of this year that would have been restricted to low and very low income households for 55 years. Yes the other $600K will come from reserves. They also fail to tell you that because of redevelopment, 5 other senior, low income and disabled affordable housing projects were built for the benefit of the community. The Heavenly Village Project has also had spillover positive effects. It has increased sales tax revenue at the Crescent V shopping center, created jobs there, and improved the environment. Redevelopment reform and oversight is necessary. Especially with the low moderate income housing fund. But this is a tourist based town and we need to have Redevelopment to help continue attracting tourist here. We need to make the town newer and better, plus creates local jobs and bring LEED environmental guidelines to future projects. Redevelopment is that tool. Not only to increase revenue in the future, but also to provide affordable housing and protect the environment and the Lakes clarity.
whitt33, The $1,200,000 being taken from the low moderate income housing fund, is it grant money?
The Low Moderate Income Housing Fund comes from tax increment. Redevelopment Law requires that 20% of all tax increment earned MUST be spent on low income affordable housing within the community. Those projects may include, disabled, senior, low and very low income and also facilities for the homeless. What cities have been doing is using those funds to pay for RDA & City administrative salaries, and also to pay the State their “ransom” payments. SB450 (Lowenthal) would have restricted the amount used by cities to pay administrative cost and forced the cities to spend the majority of money on low income housing for their community. This was a good bill. However, Governor Brown vetoed the bill saying that it was premature to pass before the Supreme Court’s decision on Redevelopment is settled. What we need are laws reforming any abuses in Redevelopment like sb450 to protect those funds for the community, not to abolish redevelopment entirely.
I see the government involvement in the business world as a big part of CA problems. SLT redevelopment a prime example.
Gov should set the standards and then ensure compliance. That’s all.
Having the government people actively involved
in the financing and the contracts is what leads to all the problems.
Free market economics vs. crony economics.
SLT is a great example of excessive government in the economy. People that spend other peoples money are not the same calliber of people that put their own money at risk. There is an arrogance that develops that undermines fairness and freedom.
We now have a system that favors people that spend other peoples money for personal gain. This system delivered the state of decay we are in.
Get the crony types out of the business and reduce the intrusion of the government on free markets and you will change the direction of our decline.
You are going to hear from the City Manager and other anti redevelopment proponents in this city that because of the requirement to take 20% of the tax increment for the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund that the city will face projected deficits in the near future. This is true, however, the city MUST use this money to build low income affordable housing (whether it is disabled, senior, homeless or low and very low income affordable housing) in our community. These projects would never get built with only private investment and not the use of Grants, Tax credits, Bonds and the low and moderate income housing fund. It would never “pencil out”. The community does not “lose” this money rather it is an investment in the future of our community.
whitt33:
Thank you for your very informative comments regarding this very complicated topic of Redevelopment. I find it unfortunate that many people either will not make the effort to become fully informed on the benefits of this financing tool, or perhaps they lack the capacity to understand, thus the opposition position is automatically assumed. The City can’t afford to forfeit/give to the State of CA all the assets of the SLT Redevelopment Agency (like the Ski Run Blvd/Highway 50 corner property, along with everything else) so SLT has no choice but to pay the State’s $1.8 million ransom. Anyone who thinks the State won’t benefit immensely from the seizing of all the assets of California’s Redevelopment Agencies is delusional. The State isn’t doing this out of the goodness of their heart to help local jurisdictions!
Did you daddy BS you into believing that?
Jesus kid, it time to get off the baby bottle.
“Be all you can Be”
Well researched and written whitt, thank you. I tire of the conspiracy and fraud attacks here from those parties that you mention.
Bill is not wrong. Keep it coming, and my best to you and Jonny
Hey Bill, I apologize for the misspelled name. Give her my love.
Peggy