Jobless numbers this morning were lower than analysts expected, coming in at 432,000, down 22,000 from last month. Economists had expected the numbers to be around 460,000.
Today’s jobless numbers are the lowest since July, 2008.
This report, along with a 70% rise in world oil prices over the last year could very well signal a turnaround has occurred in the economy.
After watching sales tax revenues continue to miss projections, Springfield City Manager Greg Burris has recommended more budget cuts to take effect immediately.
Burris suggested $1.27 million in cuts in a memo sent today to Springfield City Council members. The proposal follows a $1 million cut made after the first quarter of fiscal 2010, which began July 1. The city's 1-cent general sales tax is down 10.3 percent through the first six months of the year.
Of the proposed second-quarter cuts, $645,000 will be saved by continuing the hiring freeze that has left 114 full-time positions open, according to a city news release. Remaining savings will come from specific departmental cuts, including:
• Cutting $225,000 out of the transfer from the city's general fund to the Health Department, to be made up through one-time federal grants;
• Eliminating a $100,000 reserve fund for Busch Building maintenance;
• Eliminating $100,000 for Public Works Department capital equipment purchases;
• Cutting $100,000 in capital equipment purchases for the Public Information department's City View channel; and
• Saving $96,500 through changes in telephone and facility cleaning services.
The city also plans to save $7,000 through voluntary furloughs; these are in addition to furlough time required of upper management in the first-quarter cuts.
In September, when the city was down $1 million after the first three months of the fiscal year, general fund cuts led to the aforementioned furloughs along with four layoffs, a continuation of the citywide hiring freeze and a 10 percent spending reduction for most departments.
If council approves the recommended cuts, they would take effect immediately. Council could consider the changes as soon as its next luncheon, on Jan. 5.
As the city of Neosho works through the financial issues before us, it is important that we all have a clearer understanding of what actually caused this problem in the first place. I’ve had a number of people ask me things like:
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing with you some hard facts and specific “public” information that goes a long way to explain the why’s and how-comes of our financial situation. I can assure you the monies were not “stolen” or “embezzled”. I am confident of that. But the reasons behind the financial issues are complex. I’ll do my best to break them down and keep the explanations as simple and direct as possible.
If you look closely, you can count each the five strands of barb wire that snapped, one by one, as the trailer went through.
Good news...no blood and no bent steel. It makes for a great Christmas story.
**Updated Clarification**
Since I've been ask a few times now, I'll clarify - the trailer and I were heading backwards down the hill after losing momentum on the icy drive - at that point, I was along for the ride. The trailer took a left through the fence. The photo shows where I stopped.
According to today’s Neosho Daily website, City Manager Jan Blase gave the Economic Development Sales Tax Committee a hint of things to come during their monthly meeting held yesterday at City Hall.
Specifically, Blase commented that he sees a property tax as a solution to help provide the city with a more stable funding base.
During the meeting, Blase also commented on cash flow shortages projected for March and April. (This is mostly likely related to debt payments due by the city in March and April. According to the budget approved by the council in September, the city has just over $1 million in debt payments due by May 1st, 2010. Total debt payments for FY 2010 are just over $1.6 million.)
Blase also cited a 13% reduction in sales tax vs collections two years ago – partially blaming retail and food competition from NW Arkansas and Joplin. He estimated it will take another two years to get back that 13%.
Mr. Blase has until January 15, 2010 to present a plan to the Neosho City Council outlining the steps he will take to start fixing the city’s financial situation.
I support the property tax issue for a number of reasons. My full comments are here. Below is a portion of that post related to property taxes.
5) Move toward a more stable and less-volatile revenue base. Being dependent on sales tax as a sole local source for operating revenues is unwise and was the wrong decision to make years ago. The city must look at a modified revenue base that could include REPLACING some of our sales tax revenue with property-value based taxes that better distribute the costs of operating our city to the ones benefiting from its services. This is especially true for fire protection.
As a sign of the economic climate, Brass Eagle announced yesterday that it will be closing their Neosho facility at the end of February. According to the press release, the closing will impact 60 employees.
As of this morning, Brass Eagles’s parent company JT sports website had no mention of the closure.
Brass Eagle’s operation has been in Neosho for over 10 years.
JT Sports is based in Bentonville, AR. www.jtsports.com
Currently | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
$21.01 | $22.48 | $23.60 | $24.78 | $26.02 | $27.33 |
| Increase % | 7% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
All Office Depot stores across the country, including the one at 32nd and Rangeline in Joplin, are now stocking a new line of stacking chairs to use in your office foyer, conference rooms or where ever you might need additional seating.
What’s special about these chairs is that they’re warehoused, shipped, and sold by a local Neosho business I happen to own. Not only is it good news for Office Depot to have a new and updated line of chairs, it’s good for Neosho. Over half of the product ships from our Neosho warehouse. That means more work and job security for Marco’s 25 full-time employees.
The product is sold under the Office-Stor Plus brand. Check it out next time you’re in Office Depot.
Windows live offers up a new way to post to Blogger instead of using the web-based interface. Thanks to Microsoft for making my life just a tab bit easier. Windows Live comes free as an update to Windows XP and includes Windows Live Writer – the blog posting tool I’m now using.
You can even post a map! Here’s one of what else…Neosho Blvd.
— By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Budget cuts of up to $150,000 may be needed to balance Jasper County’s general revenue budget for next year, according to Richard Webster, county auditor.
The auditor, who is county budget officer, said he has been working on budget revisions since late November, after presenting to the County Commission a preliminary budget that projected general fund revenues would fall $1.5 million short of spending.
Webster said he had been hoping for an increase in sales tax receipts, but proceeds from the county’s general revenue sales tax were down in December. “For the year, tax collections were down 5.5 percent,” he said. “Last year, we got more than $5.9 million; this year, it’s down about $325,000.” In the wake of year-end sales tax collections being tallied last week, Webster said the County Commission has asked him to go through all the county department spending and revenue projections “and make whatever adjustments are needed to balance the budget.”
John Bartosh, presiding commissioner, agreed: “We’ve asked him to make the cuts and balance the budget. “If anybody disagrees, they can come and fight with us.”
Earlier, the county was looking at a general fund budget that anticipated spending at $16.5 million, about $1.2 million more than was estimated as revenues. Since then, Webster said the deficit has been trimmed by about $200,000. “But we’re going to need about $1 million to balance, and I think I’ll be lucky if we end up with $850,000. So, we’re going to be looking for cuts,” he said.
Based on the commission’s direction, Webster said he will be looking for savings in all department budgets. “I’ll be comparing what they’ve asked for with past history and other information,” he said. “If it’s reasonable, we’ll leave it alone. If I think they can get by with less, I’ll be making adjustments.”
Webster said the commission still wants Sheriff Archie Dunn to pay, from the law enforcement sales tax fund, an additional $300,000 in law enforcement expenses now paid for by general revenues. Dunn has agreed to some additional expenditures, but not the full amount. Bartosh said he expects there will be some discussions with the sheriff, but added, “No one is going to be excluded if we need to look at cuts.”
“We’ve been lucky before, because we’ve always been able to balance the budget,” he said. “It’s not that way this year.”
The county for the past several years has set aside money, now totaling $150,000, for an emergency fund. Some of that may be spent this year, the auditor said. State law requires the commission to adopt a budget by Jan. 10, but Webster said he hopes the work can be done by Dec. 31. “It’s going to depend on whether negotiations are needed with department heads,” he said.
The Neosho City Council voted unanimously to reprimand City Manager Jan Blase for improper management of city funds, according to the results of a vote conducted during a closed meeting on Tuesday. The results of the vote were issued today.
As part of the motion, Blase is also being required to provide “a formal written plan to recover and balance funds into proper itemized fund balances” by Jan. 15, according to a statement released today by the city.
Blase last month acknowledged that he used a state loan reserved for construction of new hangars at the airport to make payroll and pay city bills. The day after that acknowledgment, the council met in closed session, then announced that Mayor Jeff Werneke and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Davidson would investigate whether the council was fully apprised of the city finances in recent months.
The results of that investigation, along with documents submitted by Blase, were presented to and reviewed by the full council in a closed session Dec. 1.
The city of Springfield received an "unqualified" financial audit Tuesday from the Kansas City office of international accounting firm KPMG.
The unqualified findings mean there were no reservations or problems expressed with the city's financial reporting processes, according to a city news release. The outside audit is required annually under the city charter.
Among the key points of the audit:
• As of June 30, the city's net assets totaled $724 million, including $482 million in capital assets. Net assets increased by $22.7 million in fiscal 2009; and
• Total debt increased by $17 million during the fiscal year to $392 million in outstanding long-term debt, with the city issuing $12 million in bonds offset by payments of previous debt.
"You're facing a number of challenges, as are other cities, and you're handling them well," KPMG Auditor Michelle Stromp told the Springfield City Council during the council's Tuesday luncheon, according to a news release.
The city also announced that its Finance Department received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers' Association. It is the 32nd consecutive year the department has received the honor.
Springfield's sales tax revenue woes continued in December, according to numbers released Thursday by the city.
The city's 1-cent general sales tax brought in $3.2 million, down 10.3 percent from December of 2008. The latest drop marks the fourth month in fiscal 2010 where sales tax revenue dropped by double-digit percentages compared to a year earlier.
For fiscal 2010 to date, the tax has brought in $17.4 million, down 9.8 percent from the same period in fiscal 2009.
City officials have said they will review the budget situation quarterly to see if cuts are needed from the current budget. In September, when the city was down $1 million after the first three months of the fiscal year, general fund cuts led to four layoffs, a continuation of the citywide hiring freeze, mandatory furloughs for all management and a 10 percent spending reduction for most departments.
Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea said the city needs to save another $900,000 from the budget, though $600,000 of that savings comes from open positions. Honea said city departments are beginning to look at where cuts could be made, so that the city manager's office can make a recommendation to Springfield City Council in late December or early January.
"We'll be working with the leadership team in the next couple of weeks to determine how we can save another $300,000 from the budget," Honea said. "It's going to be tough."
SBU won 83-67.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
