Comments by dhcc66
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Posted on August 7 at 7:47 a.m.
peyton, we only read the state's information online. if they have mis-represented, then an apology is in order. i would suggest having a lawyer call the state dept of revenue and get their attention. yes i know that costs money, but at least it would get it cleared up.
also peyton, you have to realize that this is somewhat of a witch hunt, with the witches being the overspending city commissioners. when they go out and groom their pet projects, sell each other cars, spend money re-paving streets that don't need it, and spending 190,000 building a pond at the golf course....the public wants heads to roll.
i realize that somehow madelyn's got caught up in all of this because of the reportedly uncollected taxes, but that is part of the whole spectrum of what the public perceives is wrong with the way the government does things. then, something which appears to be clearly bad/wrong gets pointed out and the hunt is on, or at least until somebody calls off the hunters. thank you again for clearing that up.
Posted on August 1 at 7:36 p.m.
from what i understood at the last year's budget meetings, we have to catch up before we can save for a rainy day. our past city manager and commissions have driven us into a 40 to 50 million dollar hole on bonds that we owe money on.
from what i understood during last year's process, some of the budget is being spent on putting money back into the reserves, which if i remember correctly is around 150,000 right now...somebody correct me if i'm wrong.
i think that the city government is doing most of what they should be doing in our situation, but sometimes it seems like the commissioners still have a "check writing" problem....kinda like somebody who thinks that since they still have checks, there still must be money in the account. THE POND HAS TO GO!!!! no more waste
Posted on August 1 at 3:15 p.m.
net, you should go to an open budget meeting. there is a more recent column that shows a 190,000 expenditure for a new pond on the golf course. i'm going next week to see what else they have planned for us. i see this as the only way to strike back besides running for office.
maybe if enough people pay attention to what is being voted on in the meetings, and enough people voice their concerns, MAYBE they might change their minds.
if not, vote their butts out of office
Posted on August 1 at 3:09 p.m.
mr stoll, would you rather have your property taxes go up? i don't think it's an "i don't want any more taxes" kind of issue, it's more of a "where do we increase the taxes so that they impact the average guy least" kind of thing
On No thanks
Posted on August 1 at 3:07 p.m.
wow, that would about make up the difference in buying a new or used firetruck too huh??
Posted on August 1 at 11:24 a.m.
hey net, the cities grass is on the high side because the taxpayers don't want to pay for any more people to mow the grass...try that one on for size. if the city gets a mowing order posted on it's own land, do we as taxpayers have to foot the bill too??
Posted on August 1 at 11:21 a.m.
no, the excess rolls over into the general fund, from what i remember from last year's budget hearings..that way we can buy another used fire truck
Posted on August 1 at 11:20 a.m.
and your solution net is what?? cut taxes and city services? hope your hand dug water well doesn't run dry because without enough water department workers, they won't be able to fix your water main the next time it ruptures...oops, couldn't afford the new backhoe either..just have to dig that asphalt by hand til we get to the broken main
Posted on August 1 at 7:05 a.m.
jayhawker, we are still one of the lowest sales taxes of communities our size in kansas. you can check it out for yourself by going to http://www.kansastreasurers.org/kstax.ht....
from what i can see, emporia is also one of the most short sighted communities too...build retail so we can get money. ok, who is going to buy the retail when we let our merchants price things higher than anywhere else?
we've been shopping emporia first, so we're broke like the rest of you. even with our sales taxes being lower, i can go buy a new car in wichita, emporia, or even OSAGE CITY for a noticable amount less than i can here. same with clothing, electronics, and most of all gas, which is normally 10 to 20 cents higher than even the turnpike lately. sorry merchants, but it's true. those of us who travel a little notice things like this.
at least with a higher sales tax, we can get taxed at the rate of what our local shop owners sell things to us for...hence a lot higher rate of return!
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Posted on August 8 at 8:11 a.m.
i've said it before, and i want to say it again.
if they would stick to the basics and start out by funding only the things necessary to keep the city open....ie..
1. fund the facilities, and only those necessary for function. make them functional and safe for those who work there.
2. fund the employees that keep the city running safely. pay them reasonably market value or they will leave, take their knowledge and experience, and find a better job.
3. fund the equipment those employees use and stop buying "low bid" only. it doesn't make sense to have to fix or replace things in a couple of years when we could have spent a little more and gotten something worth the money.
4. pay bills the city owes
5. open our minds to making city materials purchases outside of the city, if it makes financial sense. my example would be the vehicles. in other words, if longbine offers a work truck for 20,000 and a kansas city chevy dealer offers the same truck for 17,000....why are we opposed to saving 3,000 per vehicle so that a local business person can make more money?
anything after that is open for discussion, but doesn't seem "necessary" to me. giving certain entities such as the regional development people hundreds of thousands of dollars doesn't make sense to me. who works there and why do they need so much money?
funding emporia main street....why don't the businesses fund that, along with grant money?
and please....NO MORE PET PROJECTS...we are all sick of them.
lastly, if things make money, keep them. the golf course makes money, keep it. the pool continually loses money. find a way to at least come close to breaking even, or close it until you can.
On Tax passes; what next?