Bright Future or Mired in the Past?

By JD Miller CPA

6/4/13

Do you want to take Vallejo into a bright future, or continue to mire it in its past?

According to the Times Herald Tuesday, June 4^th, “(r)evenues are growing again, but city officials say not fast enough to offset a host of increased costs.”

If you were to read comments from city officials for the 15 years prior to our bankruptcy, you would see similar comments each year.

From 1993-2007, 14 years, City revenue grew at more than 150% of inflation each year.

But not fast enough to offset growing costs.

During those same 14 years, Vallejo had to cut expenses every year.  Salaries and benefits increased at more than 200% of inflation each year.

Did any of you have your salary and benefits increase at more than twice the rate of inflation every year for 14 years?

This budget you have before you continues this trend.  This budget proposes that you continue to increase your spending on salaries and benefits each year at a rate greater than your revenues are growing.

Isn’t this the same spending pattern that took us into bankruptcy?

When Vallejo came out of bankruptcy, the Council committed to a 5 year revenue and spending program.  You are in your 2^nd year of that 5 year plan.

For the current year, 2012-2013, you committed to spending $60,239,773 for salaries and benefits.  However, the City expects to close this year spending $66,598,346 for salaries and benefits ...$6.2 million more than you committed to, while revenues increased by only $1.5 million.

For the budget year in front of you, you are proposing to spend a total of $71,481,769 for salaries and benefits, $12.4 million more than the $59,023,240 that you committed to spend in your 5 year bankruptcy spending plan.

Obviously, you could spend more for salaries and benefits if revenues were to increase enough.  However, you expect total revenues to increase by less than $2.5 million, excluding the your expected increase Measure B money.

Does this seem like a spending plan to create a bright future for Vallejo?  Or is it going to continue to mire Vallejo in its past?

Note: All opinions expressed in the "Primal Scream" column are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Vallejo Independent Bulletin

Comments

Add New Search RSS

wharf rat   |June.08.2013 @ poopy hat wow rough post ! I have allways recconed Our Mayor as "all hat no Cattle" . For a Boalt hall graduate one would expect some more content/intelligence or at least a modicum of legal tallent .. One must wonder just what Osbys political agenda is , is it a higher office or is it some other function , perhaps a hyper ego condition ??

wharf rat   |June.08.2013 Aye anon and g--bless you too thanks for the thumbs up , but it is better dirrected towards Our esteemed Editor who operates this site "pro bono" and the many contributers who do such incredible ex-poses with accurate details way beyond anything ever disgorged by the excuse for a local newspaper .. Vib eclipses the times toilet paper by times 10 ... Folks can rail about all the things negative in Vallejo but one thing is for sure We have the most awsome local website/news venue in the region ... VIB has helped to transform Local Government and the associated Human rights that follow into a new era ,, one of accountability and functionality as in something We can actually afford that is realistic .... Viva VIB ......

Poopy Hat   |June.08.2013 But the mayor says looking at past mistakes is just "history" that shouldn't be brought up because its "personal" to him. REALLY? What's personal to me is his stupidity and fat ego that pushed that police contract down ours and the then council minority's throats without even bothering to listen. Arrogant "I know what's best" jackass. Well the chickens twe all pointed out back then have come home to roost, haven't they? And "mayor" Davis wants to close his eyes and pretend they're not there, pooping on his fancy hat. But you know what? He has crap all over himself and his arrogance just prevents him from seeing (or smelling) it.

Anonymous   |June.07.2013 A toast to you wharf rat and hats off to Marc and Mark. Liberation! Freedom of the press and the blessing of liberty this night. God bless this most precious land and all her inhabitants. God bless America.

wharf rat   |June.07.2013 Amen on the newspaper without VIB we would know very little of the goings on in Vallejo and where OUR money is spent . Re : City finances the problems go back to prop 13, Municipal managment has never adapted they still have a pre prop 13 mindset as evidenced by poor fiscal decisions even while in bankruptsey ! . The poor fiscal decisions should be inventoried and a new mantra of We will never go there again needs to be tatooed on Our Charter or put in ordinance form such that is impossible to replicate them .. Sadly the Citezens need protection from bad political actors and other predatory groups that want our coin . If we dont learn from Our mistakes We will never move foreward and just tread water untill the ultimate drowning occurs ...

Blue tick   |June.07.2013 What this city also needs is a good news paper.

Anonymous   |June.07.2013 Google Potemkin villages... That is what Vallejo is. We are urged to keep thinking positive thoughts, hanging colorful banners and planting flowers downtown and installing pedestrian bumpouts for the hordes of shoppers that will never come. Meanwhile the folks viewing Vallejo from the Ferry and hopping in their cars headed for Napa are not fooled. We should not be either.

Anonymous   |June.07.2013 Come on folks, nothing is going to change here in California with democrats in control. Vallejo is no different, we are living inside a great big preprison of democrat design. Thanks a bunch Lyndon Johnson, your plan worked like a charm. Those folks are voting democrat and will likely vote democrat forever.

Clarke Johnston   |June.06.2013 Firebug correctly reminds us of how darned convenient it was for CAMP to "Ooops" forget about re-upping contract negotiations. That's just giving the city and us citizens the upraised digit on which to rotate and perch. Zesty indeed. On the other side of the table, for the City, missing the window due to whatever excuse, borders on near malfeasance. Neither side was protecting the interests of us lowly taxpayers. Mr. Miller is most likely correct with his math, and his frequent reminders delivered at the council microphone are, from this quarter, appreciated and worth of sharp attention. When comparing to nature's choice of relationship types, one would wish that the City's and CalPers would be mutualistic. But, of course, the more deadly applies, that being Parasitic. At least it feels that way. * * Watch, in the coming weeks, Detroit. The inevitable bankruptcy filing is coming, despite the State of Michigan having assigned a trustee of sorts to try and stop the hemorrhaging. It's not working, and should provide an explicitly cautionary tale.

GC'er   |June.06.2013 @Madi Interesting post, thanks. California is a fiefedom all by itself and looking towards other states for solutions, unless it is a new way to fleece the taxpayer and it has not been thought of as a source of revenue, is unheard of. Must be a pride thing that does prevent us from admitting the possibility that people living beyond our bounderies are highly intelligent, at times even more so than the species Californicus. How else can we explain our continued ranting and raving that the Vallejo taxpayer is being taken advantage of by employees and the overly generous compensation packages and benefits to the grave, but we continue to feed the machinery. We want to invent the wheel and are blind to the possibilities to curb spending found by other municipalities, albeit not in CA. Our employees perform jobs duplicated in private industries a million times over, but with greater benefit. Why is that? The city is not a corporation with an endless stream of revenue, actually we could be considered as poor as a church mouse according to what is being presented during budget discussions! We continue to struggle with just about every service provided to the taxpayer, quality of life issues we call it here, and are not able to complete a single project without cutting corners that eventually will proof costlier than enticipated. But we are able to provide very good compensation to those we employ by taking from those that have an income far below what is being paid to the employee. I wonder if the fact that city employees are sitting at the negotiation table and determine future compensation that will also impact themselves, has anything to do with that? Just asking!

Madi   |June.05.2013 Ok... so what can be done to let MOST of our citizens know the information that's been stated below (the corruption). It got to reach a wider audience! Now is the time we all need to put our minds together and change the way the local government has drained the city along with CALpers. If there's anyone out there that's an accountant take a look at this information on just how CALpers really works. Several cities citizens have taken this information up with their city and made amazing changes. Portland Oregon has a You tube video of some of the town's citizen's presenting this information to City Council The information kept them from bankruptcy. It has to do with investment returns. I comprehend it but I can't explain it. Nothing will change in government until we actively make change. We can chew on the moronic or even criminal way our city's ran and the PTB could give a rip but when we act, historically we can bring about real change. In every revolution it's only taken around 7-8 % of the populous to bring solid change. The information here is excellent and the solution is the goal. Time to get busy. Mathematics is not my strong suit but it is for someone who visits here. Here's the link and maybe the salvo shot heard round the city! Whoever does this, do a search for Walter Burien CALpers1. We have to get into the solution!!!!! He's found a way and so have other's using his information. The video's will tell you where to look for this hidden dis -closure. Watch the video's first. then do the research. Because have any of us seen Change we can believe in or for the citizen's who pay the city salaries ? So who are they working for once in office? Taxes, fees, license's and our streets was the no.1 for spending the paltry 3 million that the people were "allowed" to say how the money was spent...really??? here's the home page where you can watch..... http://cafr1.com/

anon/tax payer   |June.05.2013 What is so invocative is that every Poster on this subject is right !!! in so many ways .... We are not divded as City Staff would like to Impune .. and or suggest, in fact the Community is whole on most of the Issues that We face and willing to come together for the betterment of the whole Community ... When the Citesens of Vallejo get fed up and Institute a "TAX REVOLT" then some results will be seen ... A major Revolt is the only thing that will reign in the out of controll spending ... We can not afford the Public Safety costs We are now faced with , a major overhaul is Our only option ... Public infrastructure is more important than Police functions , as if We cant get water who the hell cares ... Our priorities have morphed in fact a seperation from Infrastructure and law enforcement needs to happen NOW and the funding seperated Forever, never again should Our infrastructure be burdened with the drain of out of controll Public Safety PACS a total seperation is needed and NOW! and once and for all ... Seperate City functions need to be budgeted ---period -- and each divison isolated from the liabilities acrrued by each .. So when the Police expose Us to multi Million dollar judgments , it should come out of their collective budget ....And this includes compensation .. Just as would any private working group .. The party is over accountability is now the Mantra We tax payers deserve nothing less , if these abuses continue a REVOLT is immenent .....

annoyII   |June.05.2013 Sure. Pass an ordinance. The GF is now only 79% for wages, salaries, medical, and retirement. Then, next election, new council puts in the 100% level. Roads fall apart. Who needs them anyway. Street lights only hinder those who do not want to be noticed. Let's just pass a new, special tax, that says it all goes to those who work for the city. Then we don't have to quibble over what few crumbs are left.

65percent of generalfund   |June.05.2013 Council majority needs to adopt an ordinance that limits the percentage of the general fund that can be spent on fire and police contracts. I know Dan Keen will advise gainst this Idea because he wants more flexibility but I prefer sustainability in the short term -and Dan Keane is good is he as won't be around forever. I don't care how many cops leave-plenty of people to replace them .More lower paid cops on the street are better than no cops responding. The Vallejo PD still has the same union representation believed it was okay to punish those of us who live here. They went so far far as to post a threatening billboard downtown.

Anonymous   |June.05.2013 The city council MAJORITY at the time of bankruptcy voted to give raises and free heth care to police. It's important to remember who voted for that travesty: Osby Davis, Hermie Sunga, Tom Bartee, Erin Hannigan and Michael Wilson. As Gomes and Brown pointed out last week Vallejo wouldn't have the deficit we have today if they hadn't approved that contract. Such a shame. A d what a shame three of them are still in office and two of them are reps for state and county elected officials. Very telling how screwed up our system is. The corrupt rise to the top.

Anonymous   |June.05.2013 It is true that the City of Vallejo has to pay a premium to get employees to work here. But it is not what you might think. I have a friend who is a Director of Public Works elsewhere and belongs to all the professional organizations that other such folks belong to. He says that Vallejo's reputation for CORRUPTION is what keeps the really good professionals from applying for Vallejo jobs. So Vallejo can only choose from a pool that is drawn by the excessive compensation packages. That is why when you compare what Vallejo City staff are paid and their sorry knowledge, skill, education and competence levels you can understand how we citizens are not getting what we pay for.

tramky   |June.05.2013 It can not be forgotten that shortly after filing for bankruptcy in Federal court, the City Council at the time voted to provide a pay INCREASE to the police department. So the thought that bankruptcy will reduce your costs is misguided. If I'd been the Federal judge, I would have thrown out Vallejo's bankruptcy case after that City Council vote. The entire bankruptcy proceeding accomplished little, if anything, for City finances.

tramky   |June.05.2013 While Mr. Miller provides a cogent analysis of this Budget, it fails to discuss the issue of what it means to be a municipality in California. The City is locked into the retirement system known as CALPers because the state legislature made it so. And CALPers is going to protect itself and California public retirees at pretty much any cost, and that cost will be simply unbelievable. Most public employees are unionized, and the unions have CALPers' back in the legislature. Retirement costs--pensions and health care--are now the driver, and it is beginning to appear that local governments will exist to collect taxes to pay retirement pensions & other retirement benefits and little else. Every new police officer is a $250,000-a-year budget item. You get 4 for a million bucks or more. You want 12, that will cost $3 million a year and rising. Again, how much in taxes are you willing to pay? Want roads paved? Want the streetlights on?

tramky   |June.05.2013 If you think the CURRENT budget reflects serious problems, you should see what the FUTURE holds. The cost of City employee retirement is going to escalate rapidly over the next few years, increasing by some 50% due to changes by CALPers, the massive California public employee retirement plan. For some group of City employees, by the time that reaches its projected peak, the City will pay more for retirement plan costs than it pays in plain salary--in other words, a retired employee will be cost more than they are paid when on the job. The City has no option to alter or control this.

John K   |June.05.2013 Are City employees receiving the same or greater compensation now than prior to bankruptcy? What happened to the "top-to-bottom" evaluation of pay and benefits for all city employees? What happened to pension reform and controlling employee health care costs? How can we justify pay raises? How can we justify not reducing compensation for all new or replacement employees? There is not much transparency in the hiring details for City Of Vallejo public employees. I thought that either the number of employees or their compensation would be significantly reduced following bankruptcy. Apparently that is not the case. Has City staff not only expanded, but compensation increases have exceeded revenue increases? Could this be the same old story about how we have to overcompensate employees or they won't come here to work? Or if we don't overcompensate them they will seek employment elsewhere? What's the deal?

Firebug   |June.05.2013 Our enemy is only partially realized if one is only considering the PSUs. Don't forget that it was an incredible convenience for CAMP not to send the letter last year to start negotiations with the PSUs. CAMP is content to let PSUs get their way as they have been riding on their coat tails for as long as I can remember.

Anonymous   |June.04.2013 There is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that employee contracts need to be reduced significantly. If that means some of the employees want to leave then so be it. Vallejo needs no longer to be held hostage by unsustainable demands. I'd rather have employees that appreciate the opportunity.

wharf rat   |June.04.2013 When the Vallejo Voters actually Vote on an Iniutuave or a proposition Well the **** hit's the fan .. keep in mind that the Poweres that Be would like to Diminish this Collective ,, Coll abation of the People ....Is a bad word and the Downfall of the PSU's ... that are not sustainable ,, and are in fact a un--realistic Component of Public financing ,, One doomed for fiscal failure ,, Possibly the one that pushes Us back in into Cival Bankruptsey ,, for what gain other than the six figure Salaries ,, Enjoyed by Public safety ... We can only be Milked for so much We have NO MORE to give We are BROKE !! Vallejo is a blue collar town that cant afford all these six figure Salaries .. We just can not afford this crap We are Broke !!!! The tax payers have been Milked out beyond ..............When the Cops make Twice what a Public Works Worker earns , Just what the hell is going on ... It is Simple it is a failed Local Government ,, Failed to the core and Corrupt to the Core ,, a totally dissfunctional Abortion of what could have been ... Much of wich needs to be oursourced wich is the only way to secure services to the Public that PAY'S for said services .. Otherwise be prepared for the the Community to take controll ,,, and REINVENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT for Our Bennifet et : ALL ..

Swinehut   |June.04.2013 I like Mr. Miller's financial accounting of what has been going on in Vallejo for many years. Unfortunately it's like "casting pearls before swine." It's sad. Vallejo "coulda been a contender."

annoymous   |June.04.2013 Ironic that Davis and Sunga, the only surviving members of those who voted for the salary increase, now want to take it back.

Anonymous   |June.04.2013 "...$6.2 million more than you committed to." Geez, just about the amount that Osby Davis didn't cut during bankruptcy when he could have. It makes you wanna go "hhmmmmmm."

Write comment
Name:
Email:
Website:
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.23

3.23 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."