One of these
equals five years of these
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***********Bravo!!!***********
ReplyDeleteI wish the mayor and the finance director understood math that simple.
ReplyDeleteDoes the city have the same finance director as the BPSB?
ReplyDeleteDoes everyone believe that money for city operations just goes into one big pot to be used as the city council wants. No, can only be used for specific purposes and cannot be used for anything other than things at the whim of the council. What is allocated for capital improvements cannot be used for salaries.
ReplyDeleteThey shouldn't allocate it for capital projects if they can't pay the day to day bills, especially on such things as the cyber center.
ReplyDeleteJim, you need to be aware that the budget for 2010 includes a 2.5% across the board pay raise for ALL city employees. Now how in God's name can you increase pay when you can't pay all the employees you have now? It's not known yet what that could save because the budget hasn't been "officially" released.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't use it for capital projects you can't use it for anything. Educate yourself about how the city works and is financed.
ReplyDeleteIs the cyber command center (CCC) not some how government funded?
ReplyDeletethe fact that everyone on this board is concerned about the status of all of this, however there are only questions and no answers, is part of the bigger point of the lack of transparency and lack of communication from the City Counsel and Mayor. "No comment" just doesn't cut it-sorry.
ReplyDelete"If you don't use it for capital projects you can't use it for anything. Educate yourself about how the city works and is financed."
ReplyDeleteThat's a disingenuous argument. Money is only set aside for capital projects because the council passed an ordinance saying that it would be. They consider the riverboat taxes as a temporary revenue source, although it has been pretty stable for the last 15 years. One reason the mayor cited for the problem is that the 'Haynesville Shale' money didn't work out. I suppose it is stable.
The argument that CIC has nothing to do with it therefore has no merit. The money spent on CIC was dedicated only because the council said it would be. They have thrown away tens of millions of dollars on a white elephant project and now they have to fire 117 employees.
Maybe someone needs to educate them about how the city works and is financed.
Jim, who is the relative of Lo Walker that gets the huge salary in Parks & Recreation dept? The 2.5% raise should have been the first thing to go, these are not bright people in my opinion.
ReplyDeletenever mind the $15 million in city $$$ they had to spend on the overpass that was originally to be paid by the feds. City paying J Bennet Johnston law firm 10k a month as lobbyist. These wizards fired him after they thought the federal $$$ were secured and it suddenly disappeared. $120k/year in lobby fees cost us $15 million in construction costs. nice job mayor. some of us have looong memories!!!
ReplyDeletecorrection from 7:19am post - the mayor has a relative at the Arts Council making a huge salary, not Parks & Rec. Anybody know who it is?
ReplyDeleteI have the Arts Council linked in the sidebar. I know they are a non-profit but I don't know where their funding comes from.
ReplyDeleteWell what if I told you according to their website that the City of Bossier is an "Ambassador" sponsor, which is the highest level they have. How many firemen/policemen would that sponsorship buy?
ReplyDeleteFace facts. The city can't spend allocated tax money for anything other than what we voted it to be spent on. Bond money can't be spent on salaries. Boat money has in the past been spent to plug holes buat that is not a for sure thing. It has decreased every year and should not be spent for reacurring expenses. If Texas passes gambling, which they probably will, it will further decrease. Looks like a no win situation for everyone and something the city council and administration had no control over. Maybe if the police and fire retirement funds were solvent things would look better but they seem to get worse each year and the cities expenses continue to go up as they go down. Health care expenses continue to go up. And now it looks like the price of gas will add to expenses. No win for all concerned.
ReplyDeleteThose are valid points, and should have been addressed a year ago. But that would have been right before the elections, and they certainly weren't going to bring it up then. Not a good situation, and a lot of people are hopping mad, not just the families affected.
ReplyDeleteI agre. It probably should have been addressed 2 or 3 years ago. It wasn't and we're stuck with it now and getting hopping mad will not solve the problem. Let's wait and see what the budget looks like when we finally get to see it.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the fact the major knew there were budget problems and continued to let the city hire more employees. The city currently has police officers in the academy. They started in August, why hire people if you are not sure if you will be able to pay them next year.
ReplyDeleteHow much was budgeted for this major lawsuit with Ul Coleman over a project that could possibly bring in a lot of money to the area?
ReplyDelete