With three Ogden Council incumbents running for re-election in the 2013 Municipal Election, it'll be fascinating to observe where the Council goes from here, won't it?
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A cool $18 28 mil in the bank |
As a followup to last night's
Ogden City Council work session, wherein the Ogden City Council discussed the prospect of issuing a total of as much as $21 Million in new bonding to fund a proposed Ogden water treatment plant and various storm water projects, the Standard's Mitch Shaw breaks the bad news to its print readership that the Council has set a hearing on July 30, 2013 to consider going even further
into hock, even though Ogden City already has a total of at least
$18 28 million (in
"emergency money," so-called) currently sitting idly in its water and sewer funds:
Ogden City water utilities watchdog Dan Schroeder hits the nail squarely on the head, wethinks:
The elephant in the room here is that the water and sewer funds have approximately the same amount of cash, just sitting there, probably earning only about 1 percent interest,” Schroeder said. “According to the projections that (Ogden water rate consultant Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham) made last year, the cash as of now should be over $18 million. For the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone would borrow money at over 4 percent interest when they have the same amount sitting there in the bank earning only 1 percent.
Apparently at least some math-capable Ogden Councilmembers are also on the same page as Schroeder:
"Council members Amy Wicks, Susie Van Hooser and Doug Stephens asked Laura Lewis, with LYRB, the same question," Mr. Shaw reports.
“I’m not proposing that we suck the fund dry. But if we have a lot of cash on hand, it might make sense to come to some sort of compromise where we aren’t bonding for so much,” adds the ever level-headed Councilwoman Wicks.
With three Ogden Council incumbents
Bart Blair,
Neil Garner and
Doug Stephens running for re-election in the
2013 Municipal Election, it'll be fascinating to observe where the Council goes from here, won't it?
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| "Do the Math," LOL! |
Update 7/10/13 12:03 p.m.: Via the
ever-diligent Ogden political watchdog Dan Schroeder, we now learn that the cash balances are actually
"$11 million in the water fund and $17 million in the sewer fund," so it's a cool $28 million total which Ogden City has
"parked" (nearly interest-free) in these respective City
"emergency slush funds." Moreover, inasmuch as the new prospective bond is expected to be for $18.4 million, our ever-wise
City Council "critters" could actually
"forego the bond [entirely] and still have about $10 million left as a cash cushion against future emergencies."
Go figure, heheheh....
3 comments:
Let me fill in a few more details. I gave Mr. Shaw that quote before the meeting, when I wasn't sure where the utility funds' cash balances actually stood. During the meeting the administration reported that the cash balances are actually $11 million in the water fund and $17 million in the sewer fund, so $28 million total. The bond is expected to be for $18.4 million, so they could forgo the bond and still have about $10 million left as a cash cushion against future emergencies.
Another tidbit: During the meeting, consultant Laura Lewis repeatedly used the phrase "When you adopt it...", referring to the bond resolution. She's assuming that this is a done deal. The city staff spoke in similar terms, their tone indicating that they know they have to work harder to sell the council on this proposal, but they're confidant that they can ultimately do so. You can bet that they're scrambling right now to concoct arguments for why we can't possibly spend any of that $28 million cash balance on the new filter plant!
They want to bond because it makes fees for the bank that runs the bond, and for the consultant. The city bureaucrats want the bond for the same reason they want any money in the kitty. The more that is there, the easier it is to spend it on themselves.
Ogden city is corrupt. Mike Caldwell does nothing about it. Wicks and VanHooser are the only check on the corruption. Where is Gochnour?
How often has that enormous cushion ever used...what a crock....10 million buys alot of pipe...any kind of plan for infrasture replacement is in place. ...that should be part of the use of the so called cushion...scheduled replacement of infrastructure lessens the use of said cushion....soooo...what's the real reason for such a HUGE cushion????
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