Sunday, April 01, 2007

The Carbondale budget is out of control? Sheila/Rove at work perhaps?

I have been hearing Sheila talk about budget problems and hearing from her supporters that the city budget is 14 or 17% off against last year's revenue. I haven't been able to get what they are talking about. We know the sales tax revenue is up, we know that city spending is about flat, so why is the sky falling?

Today we get a little article in the Southern Illinoisan about the Carbondale budget.
It's not time to hit the panic button though, said City Manager Jeff Doherty.

The revenue for FY '07 included bond money for a street improvement program. Loans are counted as income. A loan assumed in 2007 and spent in 2008 will look like revenue in one year and spending in the next.
Turns out that the budget differences are just because of accounting/reporting issues around the road fix up.

I realize this isn't like the oponent claiming you are having black children out of wedlock, if you are running in South Carolina, but when you get people all fired out about the city budget being in the toilet, you are purposely playing fast and loose with the truth.

I realize we can argue about the cost of building inspectors and more police, but this was floated out there long before those budget items were on the agenda.

Sheila "Rove" and her band of merry elves working hard to muddy the waters. It is always a shame when the hold the budget meeting before the election, so the truth becomes clearer. Wonder what they will think of next?

I have included Rove's new introductory video from youtube.com for your enjoyment.

Your comments are welcome.

9 comments:

Jim Podesva said...

I don't want to seem rude, but is there anything going on in Carbondale besides the election?

PeterG said...

Not really. There is a search to replace Wendler. The Gov is screwing with the tax system, but that isn't going anywhere. Corruption continues. My company is doing well and it is almost bicycle season. The students will be gone in 6 weeks. Every store front is full and manufacturing continues to move to China. Bush is an idiot, but we knew that.

What do you think is going on worth a blog entry? I don't see much.

Anonymous said...

'Every store front is full?'

Really? Who moved into Michael's spot in the Mall? Is there a tenant in the old Varsity Theater we hadn't heard about?

What's going on with the American Tap property again? We still have to wait for the doctor to sell for anything to happen there? What was the rush in buying the Tap property then if we couldn't do anything with it?

Anonymous said...

Sheila claims to run on "integrity" but what I have been seeing of her positions, as articulated in candidate forums, and that of her supporters...well it looks more like hypocrasy than integrity.

PeterG said...

The first thing we have decide is if we think that owners have the right to do what ever they want with their property (assuming they pay taxes and follow the law). I think they do, but maybe you want people with AK-47's protecting their property rights, instead of the laws of the country?

Once we agree the owners can do with their property what they choose, then you are talking about standard turn over in retail space or places that aren't for rent (you have been reading the blog right? You miss this stuff?).

The point of buying the Tap was to kill the cancer in downtown. I guess you are like Sheila and can't see the problems with drunks and addicts in Carbondale?

Standard BS from the Sheila Rove gang, can't you find original material? This entry is pretty good stuff and I think I have 5 or 6 more with Sheila's unethical twisting of the facts in quick succession for your enjoyment.

Parentheticus said...

Peter, the drunks and addicts have just moved house, so to speak.

Anonymous said...

Sheila claims to run on "integrity" but what I have been seeing of her positions, as articulated in candidate forums, and that of her supporters...well it looks more like hypocrasy than integrity.

I'm sorry, where is the hypocrisy exactly?

PeterG said...

The hypocrisy is when you claim to be running on ethics, but are spinning everything so hard it becomes a lie. By any normal standard, this is unethical and so the whole structure is hypocritical.

Castle Perilous Games said...

The 17% decline comes from the drop in tax revenue the city receives from telephone line. More people shifting to cell phones means fewer taxes from land lines. How much this actually amounts to in terms of dollars, I don't know.