Tt post nov 12 2015

The bigger issue is the fact that the large deficit exists and how the city dolts plan to fix the problem.

When Toledo is dependent upon an illegal city tax that's called a refuse fee and dependent upon revenue from traffic enforcement cameras that the state ruled to be illegal, then the city has not begun a turn toward the positive, regardless of how many Promedicas and restaurants open in downtown Toledo.

From the Nov 12, 2015 Blade story

The city will have $4 million deficit this year, a fact that was disclosed before the election. Even with the adjustments made so far, the city is on track for 2016 spending to outpace funding by an additional $16 million if the budget does not include cutbacks or revenue increases.

The deficit was caused chiefly by lower-than-expected revenues this year from the 2.25 percent payroll tax, below-budget red light and speed camera citation revenue, and over-budget overtime costs for the safety forces.

Finance Director George Sarantou told The Blade this week that increasing the city’s monthly trash fee, [illegal tax] which is $5 for senior citizens with a homestead exemption and $8.95 for all other households, is among possible budget remedies. Delaying the hiring of new police and fire recruits is another money-saving possibility, he said.

Sarantou was one of the Toledo city clowncil assholes who voted FOR the illegal tax back in the Spring of 2007.

• Joe Birmingham
• Mark Sobczak
• Rob Ludeman
• Betty Shultz
• George Sarantou
• Wilma Brown
• Phil Copeland

And I think that tax was suppose to exist for only one year. Was that some deal that the republicans on city clowncil made with Czarty? And then it was ruled that the illegal tax would drop to zero for those who recycled. That was a lie too.

We're on year nine with the illegal refuse fee tax.

Nothing is more permanent than a temporary Toledo tax.

Remember, the city uses the revenue from the so-called refuse fee for other purposes.

More from today's Blade story about the human debris that runs [ruins] this city:

Chief of Staff Bob Reinbolt said late last month — just before the Nov. 3 election — that the city would have a class of 25 firefighters in January and 20 firefighters in July. A police class is supposed to begin training in February. Those dates are now subject to change, Mr. Sarantou said.

Mr. Reinbolt knew when talking about police and fire classes that there was going to be a projected budget deficit, but he never shared that with city council or citizens.

And the usual ...

Also, to help balance the budget, Mr. Sarantou said the city will again use up to $11 million from its capital improvements budget in 2016 to help balance the city’s general fund — money that could be earmarked for fixing deteriorating city streets but instead will be used to pay city salaries.

Toledo has used capital improvements fund money for several consecutive years to help fund daily operational costs such as police and fire salaries. That reduced what Toledo was able to spend on road repair and left almost nothing for residential street repaving.

Here are words of wisdom from one of city clowncil's current geniuses:

Councilman Lindsay Webb, who supported Mayor Hicks-Hudson’s election bid, said there was no effort to conceal the budget problem.

“The test of her leadership is how she leads us out of it,” Ms. Webb said. “This is the last year we can take CIP money, and the mayor is going to have to come up with how we address that.”

Maybe a UT economics professor can provide insight on this:

The 2.25 percent income tax was expected to generate $169.56 million this year, the same as in 2007, before the national economic collapse. Mr. Sarantou has said repeatedly for months that amount is unattainable.

I like this Blade story by Ignazio Messina even if it contains a wee bit of editorializing.

As long as tax revenues rise, the city can afford to pay those raises, but if tax collections stagnate or don’t grow fast enough, the city is stuck paying higher police and firefighter salaries it can’t afford.

The result is no money to fix streets and a crumbling city infrastructure and charging city residents more for everything they don’t have to vote on.

And the continual decline in the city's population, which perpetuates the cycle.

#toledo #politics #moronism