A Few Questions on the Budget

September 19, 2009 Leave a comment

1. Why should the citizens finance merit increases during a period of economic austerity and no inflation.

2. Can you tell me if the Museum amount included in this year’s capital budget is fully financed by the nonprofit contributions or is the city financing a good part of this expenditure?

3. Is the capital budget a multi-year or a one year budget. Please show us a multi-year budget.  Small expenditures in one year (e.g., the museum design, preparation and construction) invariably lead to multi-year expenditures that are justified on the earlier smaller expenditures.

3. In the capital budget, which projects are fully financed out of donations and other sources and do not require additional borrowing or property taxes payments?

4. Is there no information on the 2008-09 budget execution? Why does the city always compare the “budget” of the prior year with the new “budget” instead of the actual budget results. We should be comparing our 2009 budget with the actual final (including estimates for the last month) execution of the 2008-09 budget?

5. Why hasn’t the Building and Zoning staff be reduced even more?  With the fall in permit fees many staff are not justified.

Filed under Coral Gables, Finance, Government

Can this be True? $6.50 Property Tax Increase

September 18, 2009 Leave a comment

This is not a joke.

CARTHAGE, Mo. –

Owners of a $150,000 home in Jasper County will pay $6.50 more in property taxes next year under a new property tax rate schedule approved by the County Commission on Thursday.

Filed under Coral Gables

P.S. Miami-Dade Holds the Line on Taxes! And now Coral Gables?

September 18, 2009 Leave a comment

The Miami-Dade County Commissions have approved an austerity budget with a flat tax, significant salary and reductions of positions.

At 5:01 a.m., exactly 12 hours after the meeting began Thursday evening, county commissioners approved a $7.4 billion budget.

The winners: elderly residents who get county subsidized meals and community-based service organizations paid for through the commissioners’ discretionary funds. Both saw most of their county funding restored.

The losers: county employees who stood to lose $106 million in salary cuts under the mayor’s original budget and now stand to sacrifice another $68 million in assorted benefits.

But the number of proposed layoffs has been reduced from 1,700 to 945.

Is there a lesson for Coral Gables? Based on the well known views of Commissioners and the City Manager, the answer seems to be No.

Filed under Coral Gables, Finance, Miami-Dade County

Compare three South Florida Mayors: Alvarez, Diaz and Slesnick

September 17, 2009 Leave a comment

Three important mayors in South Florida are due a comparison.

Mayor Alvarez (Miami-Dade County) fought to get a strong mayor form of government and he has used this power to increase salaries of colleagues and employees at the highest levels in the Mayor’s office and heads of the police force; this at a time in which literally hundreds of employees and positions will be dropped.

Mayor Diaz (City of Miami) has taken on the financial crisis to present a strongly, austere budget, he is holding the line on tax increases and he is threatening the police union with reductions unless they go along with contract changes.

Mayor Slesnick (Coral Gables) strongly favors a city spending increase returning to amounts of two years ago when taxes reductions were forced on the city (thanks to Florida legislation); the initial presentation of a large millage increase 20 percent, lowered to 14 percent in the first budget hearing; the imposition of a fire fee, and a new fee on emergency medical services in the city. The Mayor is satisfied with a modicum of positions cuts, a healthy capital projects budget and merit increases to the employees in the middle of a financial crisis.

Filed under Coral Gables, Government, Miami, Miami-Dade County

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