All I know is--we have a bunch of debt and being a conservative, I hate debt. But what I hate more, is more debt on top of debt and someone telling me it's not debt. Yeah, I know...
Debts outstanding:
#1 Series 2008 Debt Service
#2 Bank of America Public Capital Series 2013 Loan
#3 SRF Revolving $6.5M Loan
#4 SRF Revolving $450K Loan & 2.549M Principal Forgiven
#5 2" Watermain SRF Loan $16.06 Million just recently voted in by this commission.
We have $53 million still outstanding on the Utility upgrade. Back in 2014, our former Finance Director, Steve Carr, said that our pension debt is in the red by $131 million and it is the biggest problem Lake Worth has.
And now, the commission is gaga over Siemens and getting us into more debt of nearly $23 million big buckeroos. But Siemens doesn't call it debt. It seems that the city will be spending nearly $3 million on over 4,000 LED streetlights, $5.5 million on solar panels at our landfill, close to a million on new a/c units, etc. and hold on to your chair, they will be spending right under $13 million for advanced metering infrastructure that includes new smart meters. We just replaced meters.
We will get a loan from Bank of America, rate undetermined at this time. We will put money into an escrow account called a "savings account" and money will be paid out as each phase is done. Siemens wants us to know that the contract does not constitute a debt, liability or obligation?? With Siemens' implementations, such as vending machine sensors at 3 buildings, no kidding, we will save money. If the agreed upon energy goals are not met, Siemens pays the shortfall that now will be a 15 year contract. We will have an annual cash flow of $210,666 a year for 15 years on a debt that isn't a debt of $22 or 23 million depending on the street light contingency. Wow! How does Siemens make its money?
According to the budget, Electric rates are being reduced by 0.5% in FY 2015 for a total reduction over four years of 10.5% for residential customers; 12.7% for small commercial customers, and 17.5% for large commercial (demand) customers.
Local Sewer rates have increased by 8% in FY 2015.
Water rates have increased by 5% in FY 2015.
Stormwater and Refuse rates will remain unchanged for 2015.
Last night, Hector Samario of Siemens said that they support the commission and the city manager's vision that of building the city of Lake Worth's brand. We don't know what the "brand" is unless the commission believes that it's transferring responsibility to some third party, salary raises for those at the top, free lunches, plenty of unsustainable debt, building high and ignoring election results, and entertaining the idea of a long term lease at our beach to a private developer to name a few.
As hard as I have tried, I still don't get this latest scheme--why now or why we need it.
8 comments:
They're going to charge us more on water because of the $16,000,000 SRF loan for pipes. It's like they are saying, well, folks, you didn't pass the GO bond so we will screw you another way.
I think it makes more sense for all customers to pay for the water pipe up grade via water bills than the GO bond that would have been paid only by a third of the properties in the City. Better to spread the pain around.
I don't understand the Siemens proposal either.
What I understand -Lake Worth City Commissioners =CHUMPS. The Lake Worth Taxpayers= LOSERS. Elections=MATTER.
Pay attention, people.One down,three to go.
Siemens: You only have to pay us 100,000 to buy our products for millions of dollars.
Lake Worth City Commissioners:What a great deal! Lets do it !
Lake Worth Taxpayer: A pothole just swallowed my car.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS??? So we can see the potholes better??? How much is Siemens going to make off this crap fest?
@2:58--When it comes to taxes, no one will be completely happy. These pipes affect 17 miles of road. We have 147 miles of road or something close to that. Most of the people will not be affected by the change-out other than paying for it. Somehow that doesn't seem fair either.
Why can't we assess the people who have the 2 inch pipes? Same goes for LW2020, why can't we assess the people on the roads that were going to get upgraded, etc. (especially in the park of commerce). If this infrastructure is missing or so out of date it can't be paid for with normal tax revenue then assessment seems like the best option.
I find this all very interesting as I am curious why no one has asked about the resignation and termination of both the Director and Manager for Electric Utilities. I do know both were not in favor of Siemens proposal and now Clay was forced to retire and the manager was eliminated. I feel as a citizen of this community that there is more going on here than we know and maybe we should talk to them about this process instead of trusting those who know nothing about running a Utility like the CM or Walt Gill who is a dispatcher and nothing more. Why are we trusting those who have 0 experience, ask questions folks.
Post a Comment