Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Hopes Plan Change Will Aid Small Businesses

Is your blogmeister the only one who's troubled that even under a new mayoral administration, Ogden City Government continues to lurch at top speed upon the course of unrestrained borrowing and spending?

To kick off the morning discussion we'll refer to a story which appeared in yesterday's Standard-Examiner, reporting that, in addition to getting into the student scholarship business, Ogden City Big Government Planners are also setting the stage to get into the loan business. Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- The city is proposing a change to its five-year plan that includes an amendment to help new small-business owners.

The city's five-year consolidated plan includes a proposal to create a Community Development Block Grant-funded "loan loss" program aimed at promoting business development by leveraging grants to secure loans from larger loan pools that could then be given to small businesses.

City officials say the loan program is needed to provide otherwise viable small businesses with loan options when traditional loan and investment opportunities aren't available.

Read the full story here:
The gist of it? Even in these tight economic times, when beleaguered Ogden taxpayers are pinching their pennies to manage their own personal expenses, the BIG SPENDING SCHEMERS at Ogden City Hall are now forming up a whole new raft of shell entities and unleashing a brand new wave of "leveraged" public borrowing:

The new program would use block grant loans to secure loans that would be issued by Ogden Reinvestment Corporation. An initial amount of $305,000 would come from the sale of six CDBG-funded small-business loans.

The funds would be used to provide a 10 percent security backing for loans issued by ORC to small businesses. The loan pool available to ORC contains $3 million and comes from the Ogden Industrial Development Corporation.

The goal of the program is to take the $305,000 initial investment and leverage that money to secure $3 million in loans that would then be available to the business community.

Yesiree, folks, although the ever-energetic Big Government schemer Boss Godfrey is now gone, it appears that the spirit of aggressive Big Government intervention in all endeavors (those which do NOT fit within the framework of the "proper role" of municipal government) remains alive and well, probably due, at least in part, to the continuing influence of Godfrey's Business Development Department "A" Team, who are obviously still ramming Godfrey's old programs forward.

It would also be interesting to know where newly elected Mayor Mike Caldwell stands on all this. So far however he's saying nada, zero, and zip. While his laid-back style does definitely differ considerably from Godfrey's annoyingly flamboyant approach, it is beginning to become clear wethinks, reading between the lines, that with respect to the aggressive accumulation of public debt, and the subsidizing of the private business sector, Caldwell's doing nothing to apply the brakes.

So what about it, O gentle Ones? Is your blogmeister the only one who's troubled that even under a new mayoral administration, Ogden City Government continues to lurch at top speed upon the course of unrestrained Godfreyite borrowing and spending?

Is it possible that the below-linked tune soon will become Ogden taxpayers' new theme song?
So what about it folks?

14 comments:

Sign of Times? said...

 "About 300 municipalities nationwide are in default on their debt, but most of them are so tiny that they draw little attention."


In Alabama, a County That Fell Off the Financial Cliff

Bob Becker said...

Agreed there are problems with municipalities becoming commercial lenders of last resort.  But in the cut-throat beggar-your-neighbor world of cities pursuing companies [jobs], I suspect we're going to see more of this sort of thing [nationally, not just here] rather than less.  This is after all just another way to "bid" for businesses to locate in Ogden, just as tax suspensions are, just as outright subsidies are, and so on.  [Utah does it at the state level as well. So do nearly all the states.]   Not taking part starts, to city governments,  to look like unilateral disarmament in the competition for jobs and businesses.

But I agree, it's a matter for concern.

Keisha said...

Question:  What is the  "Ogden Industrial Development Corporation?"

Just Askiin said...

 Good question.  Also what or whom is the "Ogden Reinvestment Corporation"?

Smattguy said...

More leverage...just what we need....NOT!  That how we got in this economical mess as a country/planet in the first place...and 10x leverage...sheesh....City is going Lehman style...this is NOT good.

Feed the Greedy said...

Boss Godfrey's gone, right people?

Stay safelv within your slumber, WCF readers and former WCF Readers.

Now that you jackasses have installed Mike Caldwell as your new mayor, prepare to be "reamed" by a much "nicer" guy than Godfrey.

blackrulon said...

All we need is to convert Mt. Ogden Golf Course into high end vacation homes and use the profits from selling the golf course to build a gondola from downtown to a west side facing ski resort at malan's Basin. That or build a fun fieldhouse downtown. Or condemm homes by the Ogden River to facilite building homes in the area. Or build a downtown Junction to attract traffic downtown. Or build extra floors on the new Wells Fargo building to fulfill demand for downtown office space.Isn't that  the right approach Matt.

Smattguy said...

What about a downtown popsicle?

Dan S. said...

Breaking news:  Water consultants are telling city council to issue additional bonds for capital improvements and repay the debt with significant rate increases in coming years.  The scenario that's being shown now would involve $20 million in new bonds and a 60% rate increase over the next 10 years.  Keep in mind that Ogden's water rates are already higher than those of virtually all other northern Utah cities.

Dan S. said...

Slight correction:  Looks like the eventual rate increase would be only 55%.

Bob Becker said...

Whew.  Thanks for the correction.  Had me worried there for a minute. 

blackrulon said...

Imagine the rate increase if we did not have lease revenues from BDO to help fund improvements and upgrades to the city infrastructure.

Oggie said...

Godfrey never ran Ogden.

The bureaucrats did.  They still do.

Government of the bureaucrats, by the  bureaucrats, for the DEVELOPERS.

Godfrey was their tool.  Caldwell is their tool.

rudizink said...

 Yeah.  Imagine that, LOL...

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