The Tax increase Bill is here!! You can view the Bill in its entirety if you look at the agenda for Wednesdays nights council meeting.
Here is the amortization chart.
Sorry my previous post said $120million but I guess the Mayor upped it by $12million since last week. And I calculated the interest rate much lower than 7.15%. I guess better to be lower than higher, just like this proposal is probably going to cost more than $134million when they are done. We shall see.
So, Yes it says to borrow $134 million over 30 years at 7.15% interest rate.
$218million in interest for a grand total of $352 million!!!
This will get you a new police station, not needed. A new health bureau not needed. And a new fire station. Mind you in this proposal the city plans to put a $400,000 new roof on central fire station only to build a new station? Does anyone besides me realize this isnt monopoly money but real hardworking peoples tax money.
There is like 18million for a bunch of other things like some fixing of the pools, franklin park, and a bridge at canal park for $4,750,000? Dunno which bridge desperately needs that much in fixing but i dont know. Then probably the most important money is the $770,000 for street paving maintenance. Since the streets suck. $770k should get a back alley done that no one uses.
As stated before none of these buildings will bring any money into the city. The city will have to cover between 9-14 million each year to cover this. So I expected a 5-6% tax increase before. Now im thinking 7-8%.
Oddly the initial proposal for the police station was 34million and now they are only asking for 20million. I know they have 9million in ARPA money towards this. So basically, they will break ground with the 9 million then say well we already started so we need money to finish if in fact this doesnt pass. Real clever Matt.
I dont think council should pass this bill because quite frankly it is absurd to do all of this at once and do we need a new police and health bureau right now? But you will see which council members are bought and truly do not care about the city's well-being in the next 20-30 years by their vote. I wont give my opinion on who votes for this.
Im sure Tuerk and Ms. Patel will spin this that it is fiscally sound idea. Once again monopoly at its finest. And its so necessary for the city to do this right now. And all the money wont be asked for all at once blah blah blah. I still like my idea of renting space which is much cheaper.
I just lay it out so you can play it out.
8 comments:
Well i was going to comment on the other post but i will here. I skimmed the bill and this is insane. Whats this mayor trying to do bankrupt the city? I cant afford anymore taxes but what does council care?
This is all by design. This has been planned for the entire country. Remember, "you'll own nothing and like it!" Such bovine scat!!! The question is, who is going to stop them and their insanity??? Hang on people... bumpy ride coming up!!!
A few observations:
The payments are lower up front, which is great for Tuerk since he’ll be long gone before the highest of the annual payments strangle future city budgets.
I suppose the bridge at Canal Park is needed to better accommodate the out-of-town visitors who use our parks without paying anything into them.
To those on council who are constantly bleating about “affordable housing”, the future tax hikes needed to pay for this bill will do plenty to drive those struggling to make ends meet out of their homes. And that’s before you add the additional percentage (tax hikes) needed to pay for other things the city has already committed to, like labor contracts and normal operations.
Simple math would tell you this is a bad idea. Since very few inside of City Hall seem to understand simple math, it will pass. We are screwed.
Borrowing money should be undertaken with the greatest of caution whether done by individuals or entities. When politicians borrow it is almost always due to expediency. Matt fits the bill for as the expedient type. Spend today, take credit for "improvements" then be long gone when the bill comes due. Council won't have that luxury, if they approve this debt it will be their legasy.
Simple math:
If you take the total debt service and divide that by 120,000 people living in Allentown that works out to about $2,939 PER PERSON.
For a family of four, that’s $11,756. For what?
Then factor in that not everyone in Allentown is a taxpayer (some are children; some are unemployed, etc.) and that number grows even more for those that will have to pay. Picture the widow on a fixed income trying to keep up with the tax increases that will come to pay for this.
Meanwhile, the city already has an unsustainable percentage of its population living in poverty. It needs to attract more people who have money to live in the city. Instead, the city greets them with an earned income tax rate that’s almost DOUBLE the rate in the suburbs, and is now proposing to weigh them down with debt on top of that. Not exactly a smart plan, is it?
Correct me if I am wrong but don’t we already have a streets department responsible for paving? It seems odd to me that we are borrowing money to pave a street. Oh wait! Is this money possibly for the Mayor’s bike path?
I am sure there is also pork in this spending that will go directly to individual pockets. The city doesn’t know how to diversify their contracts and continues to hand money to the same vendors who bid low and then raise the price later. Yet Council doesn’t catch on.
The mayor under the control strings of his child advisor, and his corrupt police chief are going to start construction on the new building so that taxpayers are forced to pay to finish it and forced to authorize new debt. Instead of using the millions they have in the bank from Arpa to work on the existing building. They are dirty AF!
I still don't understand the need for a new Police palace. A rental property with sufficient space and parking would be a better option. The Police Chief says he needs soave for 200+, why?? Do all officers work each day? I thought Police worked on shifts?
Patel should go back to elementary school for this stupidity. She obviously missed her courses on basic math and should not be n control of the city finances. And where the hell is our Controller? Oh yeah, too busy walking his dog while his admin is always on vacation. A joke and a complete waste of taxpayer dollars as well
We are doomed. Time to sell my house and get the hell out.
Funny you mention the Controller walking his dog (which I love to do as well) since he is the ultimate lap dog with a cushy high paying job and minimal responsibilities. Typical wasteful spending by Allentown City government to pay a very high salary to a figure head who is cozy with the Mayor, has a pompous attitude and does little or nothing for the tax payers. Wouldn't shock me if the Controller gets free health care benefits and pension eligibility.
This is an awful Bill. Spend more on things that affects the taxpayers. Like the roads, putting up more street lights, picking up the trash everywhere. Not paths on MLK that no one will use. I cant wait to see who supports this. I bet Mota- "cause the reality is" Napoli "well Im a business owner so this will help me" Affa " public safety is a priority of mine" Hendricks " I support the police" Zucal - No, he knows this is bad financially Santos-no, but wont have a reason, Gerlack No- because there isnt any money going to the hispanic population. So it will pass and taxes will go sky high. This council has no clue how to manage a city.
Post a Comment