Mailbag: Karen Aikman Writes:

(Ed.note: This was posted on comments and I have brought it forward for better visibility.)




Karen Aikman said...

I will admit that my accusation of “reckless spending” is subjective and it is to each, their responsibility to consider if my term is applicable.

You bring up a point I have often ranted about on this very blog; that it is difficult to get good information without attending every meeting. It is my opinion that it is not enough to attend a Council meeting or Planning Commission meeting. The formation of so many additional sub-committees has made it difficult to know through casual observance where any item of interest will be discussed.

You mention that the problem for you is that the people who complain…don’t tell you enough so you can make your own judgment…

I think that’s a commendable sentiment, however I would tweak it to point the finger of blame at the lack of ready quality information coming out of City Hall. If you read this site, and compare these topics to the topics of the Mayors column in the Review, you will notice a definite difference in type of information being included in her summary of city activity.

It is nearly impossible to get a clear picture of what is being done and how much it is costing around here.

The bricks were indeed paid for by a grant, but the grant included all street enhancements. I am not sure how much of the grant money went to other enhancements, thereby freeing up those tax dollars to be spent elsewhere, like the west side park.

You requested that I identify some reckless spending. I’m not going to.

It is nearly impossible to say this brick or that door was an irresponsible expense. Budget items need to be weighed between each other to determine the best use of available funds. Were the bricks a better expense at this moment than the lake? Does the East side commercial TIF negatively impact the downtown TIF? Who knows? I think time will tell.

For me, these kinds of discussions were lacking. For me this is reckless.

It is my understanding from listening to the audio provided on this site that the city is very near if not at its credit limit on borrowing. For me this is reckless.

Looking up reckless, we find: careless of consequences.

The city runs a budget based on the property taxes it collects from the parcels within its boundaries. If new homes are built of larger size, then they will generate more tax dollars per home that the city can use to pay back what it has borrowed. If the city doesn’t grow in size, either by number of new homes built or size of new homes built, or through increased commercial developments, generating increased tax revenue, then the city may have little choice but to raise our taxes to pay for the recent spending spree.

If you think the recent spending was necessary and worth a potential tax increase, then it wasn’t reckless. If growth that covers the costs of the recent spending without a tax increase is obvious, then again, the spending wasn’t reckless.

These are matters of opinion, and I can’t help you form your judgment.

4:03 PM