The capital improvement fund is not the reserve. That is the falsehood, or perhaps mistake. The administration scheduled a workshop to decide on a capital improvement after this transfer then cancelled it. There are some things on that list like $6M to restore the youth center and other things that will not happen.
If it is wrong to spend reserves on operations, it is wrong to spend them on capital improvements. Reserves are for the unexpected or emergencies.
Ok. I see your point. You are correct--the capital improvement fund is not a reserve fund. I still believe that the transfer of the 1m from the undesignated reserves to the capital improvement fund was prudent. Doing so prevents the spending of the reserves on personnel costs, which is unsustainable in the long run.
I suggest you look at the list of capital improvements and tell me how serious you think it is for Mr Smith to say we have $10M in unfunded such projects. If we have infrastructure problems, let's fix them instead of having the money just sit there.
Is it prudent when we lack a police officer or when threats are made to cut daytime fire staffing? No, it was political.
The essential tasks of government are these: police, fire, infrastructure. Why do we have problems in all these areas, yet transfer $1M dollars to a reserve with nonsense projects on its laundry list? I am no expert.
In my opinion, there is a fourth here: the trees. Without them, our property values and therefore tax revenues will decline. They are the distinctive feature of this community.
There seems to be a confusion, or at least differing opinions, on the handling of the reserves. Along with the handling of police, this a very important subject for people to understand before voting. I just discovered an RCA accounting on this subject...
http://www.rca2009.com/how-kevin-smith-and-the-riverside-partycaucus-depleted-our-reserves/
How Kevin Smith and the Riverside Party/Caucus depleted our reserves
We’ve been asked by some people whether or not we will “spend down reserves” to address the budget. The answer is an unequivocal “no, we will not.” However, our opponents have a record of depleting the village’s reserves - and have played a shell game with our tax dollars.
At the end of 2007, the village had a $1.4 million surplus in the general fund - plenty of money to cover any budget deficit, as they have done in the past. But according to the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark, Kevin Smith and the rest of the board “cut loose” our “financial safety net.” “Instead of using that entire amount to fund deficit budgets for several years, the board moved $1 million of that $1.4 million into a fund dedicated for capital projects.”
A January 3, 2008 Riverside e-flash announced that Kevin Smith and the Caucus-dominated board voted unanimously to transfer one million dollars in our reserves into the capital fund stated that “the Village Board has not yet discussed what projects will be funded by this transfer.” In other words, the board did not have a reason to move that $1 million other than to create the impression that the village was in immediate fiscal dire straits. Even the Landmark said that with the transfer, the “Riverside village trustees forced a debate about the village’s financial future.”
Depleting the village’s reserves to force a debate on a tax increase? Riverside can do better.
As of today, that million dollars is still sitting in the Capital Improvement Fund. The fund balance is over $2,000,000.
If Kevin Smith and the Caucus-dominated board had not voted to deplete our reserves, Riverside would have had more than enough money to fund the Rec Department, pay for more police officers, cover the costs of the Fourth of July parade - and much more. It’s our money we were taxed for it. Yet for 16 months we have not gotten any services or any value for our taxes.
If you think it’s time to stop depleting our reserves and put an end to the fiscal shell games, vote for the Riverside Community Alliance and bring real fiscal responsibility to Riverside.
idic5: You pulled that off of the RCA website - political parties websites are not the most reliable sources of information
idic5 gave us the following blurb from the RCA website:
If Kevin Smith and the Caucus-dominated board had not voted to deplete our reserves, Riverside would have had more than enough money to fund the Rec Department, pay for more police officers, cover the costs of the Fourth of July parade - and much more. It’s our money we were taxed for it. Yet for 16 months we have not gotten any services or any value for our taxes.
No doubt. And how much would that have cost? How much of our reserves would have been used to fund these things? And what do we do for next year's salary for the officer? For next year's Rec department $$? For next year's Fourth of July parade?
I'm not against spending reserves per se. Indeed, I think Catherine raises an interesting point about the trees--I'd imagine that even a limited dip into the reserves (say 50k) would buy a lot of trees and I'd fully support it. What they should not be used for--in my opinion--is to fund the type of things that the RCA identified above--salary, operating budgets for Departments, yearly parades.
idic properly identified the piece as from RCA's website.
I think they are trying to say hundreds of thousands of dollars have been blown by the administration, which necessitated certain budget cuts. I think so, anyway.
We are looking at $1.1M for replacing the ash trees expected to be destroyed by the emerald ash borer, and I think about $70K to spray against the gypsy moth, which first defoliates, then can kill. Fortunately, Mark Shevitz identified federal funds for this project. It is of interest that not one cent except for the matching tree program, 5K, was in the budget last year to plant trees. Individuals in this town have been paying for it.
You must log in to post.