$1.2 Million Deficit for Port Angeles
City Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski has told the City Council it might have to reduce spending by $1.1 million to $1.2 million in order to balance next year's general fund.
The main causes of the deficit are reduced sales tax revenue — down 2% from the first quarter of 2009 — and increases in District Court and jail costs and the cost of medical insurance for employees.
Enclosed with your next utility bill will be a survey asking you to rank the importance of the city's programs and projects.
The main causes of the deficit are reduced sales tax revenue — down 2% from the first quarter of 2009 — and increases in District Court and jail costs and the cost of medical insurance for employees.
Enclosed with your next utility bill will be a survey asking you to rank the importance of the city's programs and projects.
posted by Tom Harper at 12:37 PM
6 Comments:
Ha! And wait to see how many millions more the local taxpayers will be saddled with when the city buys the Rayonier mill site.
Any person with a bit of common sense can see there is already a glut of empty retail, commercial and rental/residential properties throughout the Port Angeles area. Even Rayonier, who already owns the property, AND has it's own in-house property development company sees that massive vacancy situation/lack of "market", and has no interest in developing the property.
Yet, the City is pursuing eminent domain proceedings to gain possession of that property, all at the taxpayer's expense.
" $1.2 million Deficit for Port Angeles". Cut programes and services. But they can find the money to obligate the citizens to even more debt.
Great.
And, what are our options? We didn't get to vote to form HarborWorks. We didn't get to vote for the board members. We can't express our dissatisfaction by voting them out.
And, the council members are unresponsive, too. Despite their electioneering rhetoric saying THEY would be different than the old council, they vote to support this craziness.
We can't even sue them for destroying our community with these bad financial decisions.
So, fill out those surveys. You know they really care.
Let's see now. The cost of Harborworks (so Far) 1.2 million, half of which is from the city, add the uninflated inflatable building (300k), and you’ve got 2/3of the deficit accounted for already. How much did it cost to put sidewalks in front of the Chinook Motel? Business Incubator, downtown art, seminars, etc...
It must be the employees healthcare plan that's causing the problem. Yeah, that’s it.
Anon 7:48 AM says: "Maybe they should look at the payments they have to make on $37 million worth of long term debt and $7 million of short term debt?"
Well, what about the cost of their entire staff getting a 3% COLA when the cost of living was actually negative for the last year?
11:20 AM, July 01, 2010
Enclosed with your next utility bill will be a survey asking you to rank the importance of the city's programs and projects.
Well shoot, to bad I don't get a city utility bill cuz I think they should sit on their asses for four years doing nothing. Everyone needs a frigging break from them.
"Well, what about the cost of their entire staff getting a 3% COLA when the cost of living was actually negative for the last year?"
Yeah! Compared to the wasted millions on Exelteck, Harbor-Works, the Incubator and all the other completely stupid things this city spends tax money on, these "cost of Living adjustments" are REALLY the problem.
I'm sure the millions Exelteck gets are spent in Port Angeles, right?
And all that money the city employees get in their salaries is not spent locally, in the local shops and stores, helping to keep Port Angeles going, right?
Yeah, CUT their salaries. That will help things.
(shakes head)
Here's a thought. Why don't they start giving people tickets for almost running over people in the crosswalks? I think they could go some ways towards funding that deficit, with the possible side effect that maybe drivers would be more careful. You take your life in your hands trying to cross, and the hell of it that even the police and border patrol vehicles barrel through when there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk -- and not under emergency conditions, either. If even they break the law, why should anyone else obey? But they need to fix this.
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