BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for May 8, 2009

Slim pickins in today's papers:

• The City is running about $1.4 million in the black as of the third quarter financial report (the full copy of which is available for download from yesterday's work session agenda.) A $1.1 million operating deficit for DATA -- a department set to get additional scrutiny as to its operations, based on City Manager Tom Bonfield's comments on Shooting the Bull last night -- is the most notable dark spot on a budget that's other wise been carefully-controlled by the administration this year. (H-S) One other notable item in the third quarter financial report: the City's projected fund balance remains at 11% through the fiscal year to date.
• City water management officials have proposed an increase in water/sewer rates this coming year; tier 1 (for the lowest water users) would remain unchanged, but the average users in tier 2 would see a 4.5% hike; tier 3, an 8.3% increase; tier 4, an 11.6% jump; and tier 5, a 16.5% jump. The extra funds raised would support $61 million in capital investment for water/sewer this coming year. The H-S notes that two-thirds of Durham homes fall into tier 1 or tier 2. (H-S)

Comments

[Philip]

While it is reasonable to expect transportation systems to operate efficiently, it does not follow that they should be expected to operate without losses.

We spend millions on road construction and maintenance (or rail infrastructure) and don't expect to turn a profit on it, why should the transportation system operations be expected to be anything more than efficient?

Sometimes I think that the main difference is that the large companies that get the contracts to build and maintain transportation infrastructure are more effective lobbyists than the people who actually use transportation. (Parallels the bankers being better lobbyists than depositors and borrowers.)

[Erik Landfried]

@Philip - I think you are reading this incorrectly. The issue is not that DATA is losing money. Almost every public transportation agency in the world operates at a loss - that's not the issue here. The issue is that every public agency does need to write a budget at the beginning of the fiscal year and try its best to stick to it. For whatever reason, it appears that DATA is not doing that very well this year.

As to your last point, I think you can go beyond sometimes thinking that - it's an unassailable truth in my mind and one of the worst features of our government at every level. Special interests almost always trump the public interest because most organizations that do work for the public good often do not have the resources to pay for a dedicated lobbyist.

[Elizabeth T.]

When does the fiscal year start for the city government? If it's July 1, that could explain the problem. Gas prices soared much higher than anyone expected last summer...

[Todd P]

Having just instituted the tiered rates that raised water prices for most city residents, it is surprising to see the city coming back so soon for another significant rate increase.

With the City Council and County Commissioners pressing for no property tax rate increase, it is hard to understand how a water rate increase is "OK".

The water infrastructure projects are important, but so are some of the things funded with property taxes.