Fort Collins Now
October 2007
Good news, citizens of Fort Collins, the proposed 2008-2009 City Budget is balanced.*
(*Well, not really. Actually, we’d be spending $3 million more than we bring in, borrowing against reserves, and hoping that we can make up the gap in 2010.)
Even more good news, citizens of Fort Collins, we have an extra $400,000 to $700,000 to spend.* Get in line with your pet projects.
(*Well, not really. Actually, that extra money only comes if we raise fees.)
Let’s tackle that first assertion: our supposedly “balanced” 2008-2009 City Budget. Is your household budget “balanced?” If you had to put regular expenses on your credit card every month, would you call that “balanced,” or would you be “operating at a deficit?” How about if at the end of the year you had to take money out of your retirement account or the college fund just to pay the December mortgage? Would your household budget be “balanced,” or would you be “operating at a deficit?”
Here’s a fun exercise you can try at home. Sit your down this evening and say to your spouse: “Honey, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a raise in 2010. So let’s go ahead and use Junior’s tuition to pay the mortgage. He’s still a few years away from college, so once I get that raise (if I get that raise) we can just put the money back into the college fund then.”
Then, feel free to call your household budget “balanced.” After all, that’s how the City of Fort Collins operates. They’re planning to borrow $3 million out of the reserves. Don’t worry, they assure us. New retail development will come online in 2010, boosting our sales tax revenues and allowing us to pay back the money.
It gets even worse.
Now the City is taking input from citizens and Councilmembers about how to spend an additional $400,000 to $700,000. What shall we buy? Which of these shiny new programs would you like to fund in the 2008-2009 budget?
Hold on a minute. There is no additional $400,000 to $700,000 in the proposed City Budget. (After all, we have to dip into reserves in order to “balance” it in the first place.) The extra $400,000 to $700,000 exists only if we pursue what the City Manager calls “revenue options,” in this case, raising fees on businesses. The whole approach is stupefying. There’s an “if” clause (“if we raise fees on the businesses that make up our tax base”) and a “then” clause (“then we can spend the extra revenue on all of these programs”), but the City has decided to flip the two around. So instead of a sober discussion, we get a shopping spree based on an unfulfilled promise.
You can try the inverted “if… then…” game at home too. Sit your spouse down and announce: “Honey, we’re going on vacation to Italy!” Then you can mumble something under your breath like “…if this scratch ticket pays off.” See how your spouse takes it.
This is your friendly City of Fort Collins at its budgeting worst. They’re borrowing against 2010 to cover existing costs while simultaneously raising fees to pay for new programs. They’re borrowing against the hoped-for success of business while simultaneously increasing costs for those very businesses.
Perhaps, in an uncertain economy, a little fiscal responsibility is in order? Perhaps the City might consider spending less than what they take in? Would that be too much to ask?
October 2007
Good news, citizens of Fort Collins, the proposed 2008-2009 City Budget is balanced.*
(*Well, not really. Actually, we’d be spending $3 million more than we bring in, borrowing against reserves, and hoping that we can make up the gap in 2010.)
Even more good news, citizens of Fort Collins, we have an extra $400,000 to $700,000 to spend.* Get in line with your pet projects.
(*Well, not really. Actually, that extra money only comes if we raise fees.)
Let’s tackle that first assertion: our supposedly “balanced” 2008-2009 City Budget. Is your household budget “balanced?” If you had to put regular expenses on your credit card every month, would you call that “balanced,” or would you be “operating at a deficit?” How about if at the end of the year you had to take money out of your retirement account or the college fund just to pay the December mortgage? Would your household budget be “balanced,” or would you be “operating at a deficit?”
Here’s a fun exercise you can try at home. Sit your down this evening and say to your spouse: “Honey, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a raise in 2010. So let’s go ahead and use Junior’s tuition to pay the mortgage. He’s still a few years away from college, so once I get that raise (if I get that raise) we can just put the money back into the college fund then.”
Then, feel free to call your household budget “balanced.” After all, that’s how the City of Fort Collins operates. They’re planning to borrow $3 million out of the reserves. Don’t worry, they assure us. New retail development will come online in 2010, boosting our sales tax revenues and allowing us to pay back the money.
It gets even worse.
Now the City is taking input from citizens and Councilmembers about how to spend an additional $400,000 to $700,000. What shall we buy? Which of these shiny new programs would you like to fund in the 2008-2009 budget?
Hold on a minute. There is no additional $400,000 to $700,000 in the proposed City Budget. (After all, we have to dip into reserves in order to “balance” it in the first place.) The extra $400,000 to $700,000 exists only if we pursue what the City Manager calls “revenue options,” in this case, raising fees on businesses. The whole approach is stupefying. There’s an “if” clause (“if we raise fees on the businesses that make up our tax base”) and a “then” clause (“then we can spend the extra revenue on all of these programs”), but the City has decided to flip the two around. So instead of a sober discussion, we get a shopping spree based on an unfulfilled promise.
You can try the inverted “if… then…” game at home too. Sit your spouse down and announce: “Honey, we’re going on vacation to Italy!” Then you can mumble something under your breath like “…if this scratch ticket pays off.” See how your spouse takes it.
This is your friendly City of Fort Collins at its budgeting worst. They’re borrowing against 2010 to cover existing costs while simultaneously raising fees to pay for new programs. They’re borrowing against the hoped-for success of business while simultaneously increasing costs for those very businesses.
Perhaps, in an uncertain economy, a little fiscal responsibility is in order? Perhaps the City might consider spending less than what they take in? Would that be too much to ask?
