Mombert wrote:
Do residents really know WHAT is meant by "open bonding". Usually voters vote on a bond issue for a new building or new school - in that scenario there is (at least an approximate) figure listed for the final cost. The idea in town to bond to "catch-up" on projects that have been delayed, not fully funded or neglected for lack of a better term should be questioned.
If approved, does this set a precedence for future bonding - does success in getting this bond passed, open up a flood gate for more requests? Who prioritizes the projects, who controls the funds, will there be a paper trail or will it be "dumped" into the general fund once the dollars are received AND will the "accountants" consider this revenue since it is money coming into town ... or is it considered additional town "debt"?
I'd have to say that most residents either don't know or more likely don't care about this issue. Most residents don't pay all that much attention to what goes on in town if it isn't about our annual education budget battles.
Anyone else, that is, those who have paid any attention to the CIP budget requests over the past several years, will have some understanding of this issue. The fact is, very little of what is asked for gets through the CIP, and as a result, we've been pennywise but pound foolish.
The open bonding approach will make it easier to climb out of the hole that we've dug ourselves into, but more importantly, the idea is to set up a better structure so that we don't repeat the mistakes we've made in the past.
The easy example to understand is the reassessment. If I am not mistaken, next year we will have another reval year - yet we really haven't set aside anything for it. We know the expense of the reval is coming every 4 years, so we should set aside 1/4 of the total funds needed for it every year, so when the expense comes, we are prepared for it. Without it, we have to spike the tax rate to cover it.
We have to maintain our public works and public safety vehicle fleet, but the vehicles only last so long. Trucks rust out over time, and roads wear out as well. Especially so when we don't fund public works enough to provide sufficient preventive maintenance. We spend more money on emergency repairs instead of addressing the real problems - we were sometimes too cheap to begin with, and then we get what we paid for.
To those who think I'm complaining that we can't eat steak on a ground beef budget, I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying we should have thought about burgers vs. meatloaf - burgers don't take long to prepare, but if we'd spent the time making meatloaf, we could've streched the meat by adding bread crumbs, and made twice as many meals. And meatloaf is yummy, but we can't have it if the beef is all gone, or worse, spoiled because while we put it in the fridge, we didn't put some in the freezer.
