Forums are “Informed” About Property Tax

Thanks to the Neosho Forums for the invitation to come and speak on Sunday about the city’s finances and the proposed property tax levy ceiling increase.

I was a good turnout and I’m confident people left the meeting knowing more about why we need the tax and what happens (at least in general) without it.

From the forums site today, the following comments:

…enlightening to say the least…

…the facts, no conjecture, just facts…

…pretty plain what needs to be done.

To all that attended: I hope it helped.  It was my pleasure to do it.

Newton County Sees Jump in June

From Sunday’s NDN:

Neosho, Mo. —

There was a little good news for Newton County this month when sales tax receipts came in high – for once.

June sales tax was up $86,000 over last year. Overall tax receipts have been steadily going down, with a few exceptions, since November 2008.

This month’s numbers are no crystal ball, said Presiding Commissioner Jerry Carter.

“There’s no rhyme or reason for the way they come in. It may come in very low this month and very high the next,” Carter said.  “There’s just no way of predicting it because they don’t follow a pattern. The only pattern that you could really identify would be over a longer period of time.”

In June of last year the county took in $419,000. This year’s numbers are up, but in 2008 June income was $531,000.

For the year the county is down 3.5 percent, but it was 7 percent until this month.

The full article is here.

Marco Goes 12-0

Marco's 7-8 year old girls team finished 1st this season with a 12-0 record. Great bunch of girls. I'm proud of 'em all!

Great job as well to Matt Jarrett's 2nd place Taco Gringo team who gave us a great run for the money.
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Joplin Art Walk Was Hoppin'

Joplin's 3rd Thursday was a busy place a numerous artists had their work on display. I stopped to see one of our employees who was showing some oil paintings. It was a fun time.
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3 Down, 2 to Go

Last night’s 3rd public forum on the city’s financial state and proposed property tax ceiling increase went well.  Thanks to all that attended.  Fox14/KOAM stopped by and gave the event some newstime.

Here’s the KOAM link.

RoboCop was powered by DOS

PC World did a story last week about computer code and movies.  The screen shot above clearly shows “command.com” in the first line – what’s that mean?  That’s right, RoboCop was powered by MS-DOS.

Great article for those on the techie side.

The full article is here.

Fed Says Economic Recovery is Slower than Expected

Being of no surprise to those that actually work and live in the economy, the Federal Reserve reported today that the economic recovery is proceeding more slowly than they had thought. 

They also agreed to explore options for supporting the economy further in case conditions worsened.

Marco Takes Top Seed in Softball Playoffs

Marco Group finished off a great 7-8 yr old girls softball season with an undefeated record and takes top seed in the double-elimination tournament this weekend. 

Marco’s first game is Friday night at 5:30pm against Mr. Payroll (4).  The winner advances to the 9am Saturday morning game against the winner of the Jimmy Sexton Photo (2)/Taco Gringo (3) matchup.

We had a great group of girls this year and I couldn’t be more proud.  The team was split between first year and second year players.  Asst. Coaches Rick Geller, Jeff Franklin, and Kevin Jackson all played a key role in helping our team excel as did the parents who took time to work with their kids and attended the games to cheer them on.

1-2-3-GO TEAM!

Joplin’s Fire Rating is ISO 3

There was some discussion (and possibly some disagreement) last night when I stated Joplin’s ISO rating was a 3.  I visited the Joplin FD website today (www.joplinmofire.org) to verify.  Here’s what is says:

“Currently the department holds an ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating of 3 which helps ensure some of the lowest rates available for Residential Hazard Insurance.”

Public Event #2 – Harder Questions – Better Turnout

Turnout for tonight’s public meeting regarding the financial state of our city and the proposed property tax levy had a much better turnout than our first presentation last week.  Along with the better turnout came much harder and direct questions regarding what happened to put us in the mess.

Overall, it was a great meeting.  Thanks to all that attended.  While we didn’t always agree, I’m confident that those that came are better informed than those who didn’t.  Regardless of how they vote, I’m confident that another 20-30 people have a better understanding of what we’re asking for and why.

A special thanks to Gary Spicer.  With a little luck, he may even get a quote in tomorrow’s daily…maybe.

Webb City Council Approves Water Rate Increases

From Tuesday’s Joplin Globe:

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City residents will soon see their water rates increase by about 12 percent after approval on Monday night by the City Council.

Using 6,000 gallons per month as an average usage for a household, residents living inside the city limits who currently pay $31.80 per month will pay $35.64 under the new fee structure.

City water customers who live outside the city limits will pay $53.46 per month for 6,000 gallons of water, up from the current average monthly charge of $48.

The new rates will go into effect Aug. 1, meaning that residents will likely see the change reflected on their September water bills, according to officials.

The council approved the new rates with a 7-1 vote, with Councilman Ray Edwards casting the dissenting vote.

The full article is here.

Webb City Proposes Water Rate Increase

From Monday’s Joplin Globe:

WEBB CITY, Mo. — The City Council tonight will consider an increase of about 12 percent in residents’ water rates.

City officials say the increase is necessary to cover the city’s costs and expenses associated with water service. If approved, the new rates would be effective immediately.

Using 6,000 gallons per month as an average usage for a household, residents living inside the city limits who currently pay $31.80 per month would pay $35.64 under the proposed fee structure.

City water customers who live outside the city limits would pay $53.46 per month for 6,000 gallons of water, up from the current average monthly charge of $48.

The council gave first-round approval of the new rates at its June 28 meeting, with Councilman Ray Edwards dissenting, according to the minutes.

2nd Meeting Set for Monday Night

Monday night – July 12th – 6pm – that’s when I’ll be at the Neosho Rec Center giving the public yet another chance to listen to some details on the current financial state of our city and to discuss the reasons behind why a property tax levy increase is on the August 3rd ballot.  There is also plenty of time to ask questions if you have them.

It’s your city.  Please take time to attend one of the meetings and be informed about what happens with and without a property tax levy increase.  The city of Neosho is facing a $1+ million deficit for next year’s budget.  For a city our size, that’s a very large hurdle to cross.

Why Ethical Behavior Is Important

I’m always amazed by things that get twisted and taken out of context in an effort to discount or distract from the real reasons for something to happen.

Today, I learned that I’m personally pushing the new proposed ethics ordinance because I’m “mad” at a particular councilperson for disclosing information (s)he wasn’t supposed to disclose.

Me being or not being “mad” doesn’t have a darn thing to do with what the public EXPECTS from their elected officials when it comes to performing their duties in an ethical manner.  Elected officials SHOULD ALWAYS behave with the highest levels of ethical behavior, not just the minimums spelled out by law.  And the responsibility for behaving ethically doesn’t stop if you disagree with others on a particular issue.

For the record, I take allegations of unethical behavior very seriously.  But I also believe that if someone makes such an allegation it should be in writing and signed and should be investigated to determine if the allegation is or is not true.  Simply making off-handed remarks about unethical/illegal behaviors is itself irresponsible.

Below is the response I sent to the Neosho Daily Today:

The Charter of the City of Neosho already allows the city council to investigate any board or any department if we feel there is reason to do so.  Enacting this ordinance does nothing to lessen that authority or circumvent the council’s responsibilities. 

But what it does do is allow for is an impartial, unbiased board to review ethics complaints alleged against Neosho’s elected officials to determine if a violation has occurred.  The council still has the authority and the duty to determine any discipline.  The biggest change is that the council will no longer be charged with investigating themselves until an independent board determines if a potential ethics violation has occurred.

In the detail of the ordinance, we are also better defining what we consider to be ethical behavior.  That includes requiring elected officials who are provided with confidential and/or private information to keep that information private until such information is required by law to be released.

I expect ANY elected official to behave ethically.  But this ordinance will set new minimums of what we should EXPECT from our elected officials and provides for a process to deal with that unethical behavior if it does occur.

The incentive – behave ethically.  If you do, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

Be Informed!

Last night, I led the first of five scheduled meetings designed to provide more information about the city’s financial troubles and the proposed property tax ceiling increase on the August 3rd ballot.

While last night’s meeting was lightly attended, the presentation seemed to be well received. 

Click on the video image below.

The next meeting in Monday, July 12th, 2010 – 6pm at the Rec center.

Richard

Speed Readers Not As Speedy With E-Books

From Cnn.com:

(Mashable) -- It takes longer to read books on a Kindle 2 or an iPad versus a printed book, Jakob Nielsen of product development consultancy Nielsen Norman Group discovered in a recent usability survey.

The study found that reading speeds declined by 6.2 percent on the iPad and 10.7 percent on the Kindle compared to print. However, Nielsen conceded that the differences in reading speed between the two devices were not "statistically significant because of the data's fairly high variability" -- in other words, the study did not prove that the iPad allowed for faster reading than the Kindle.

A total of 24 participants (10 is about average for a usability survey) were given short stories by Ernest Hemingway to read in print and on iPads, Kindles and desktop PCs. Hemingway was chosen because his work utilizes simple language and is "pleasant and engaging to read."

The narratives took an average of 17 minutes and 20 seconds from start to finish -- enough time to get readers fully "immersed" in the stories, Nielsen explained.

The full story is here.

State Revenues Down 9% for FY10

From today’s SBJ:

Missouri ended its fiscal 2010 on a sour note as June collections dragged down net general revenues to $6.77 billion, a 9 percent decrease compared to fiscal 2009, according to the state's annual General Revenue Report. The state's fiscal year ended June 30.

The state collected $7.45 billion in net general revenue during fiscal 2009, according to a news release from Missouri’s Office of Administration.

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering said Friday net general revenue collections for June decreased by 21.8 percent, to $492.2 million, compared to the $629.3 million collected in June 2009.

By collection type:

• Individual income tax collections were down .04 percent for the month and fell 7.6 percent to $5.48 billion for the year;

•Sales and use tax collections decreased 9.3 percent for the month and were down 4.9 percent, to $1.79 billion, for the year;

• Corporate income and corporate franchise tax collections were up 13.9 percent for the month, but fell 4.9 percent, to $502.2 million, for the year; and

• All other collections dropped 34.4 percent for the month and were down 14.4 percent, to $465.8 million, for the year.

The report also noted that refunds increased 62.3 percent for the month and were up 2 percent, to $1.47 billion, for the year.

Local Principal Makes News Story – By Accident

 

Local Neosho R-5 principal Satotha Burr was caught during a video about maggots on a commercial flight this week. 

Check around 0:34.  She’s in yellow.  Go Satotha!

The video was features on www.perezhilton.com.

MoDOT Get Some Funding for Projects

From today’s SBJ (emphasis is mine):

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission on Wednesday approved a $500 million construction program for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The program, which includes highway and bridge projects, is roughly one-third the size of the department's 2009 construction program, according to a commission news release.

"We've known this grim situation was coming," Missouri Department of Transportation interim director Kevin Keith said in the release. "It's as if we've fallen off a cliff."

During the last five years, the MoDOT budget was helped along by a combination of Amendment 3 bonds and federal stimulus money, but an eventual cut was looming as the Amendment 3 bonds began expiring and state and federal funding were decreasing, according to previous SBJ coverage.

About $750 million per year had to be cut from its budget.

MoDOT's planning manager for District 8 in Springfield Frank Miller said that plans for scaling back were already in the works.

"You’re going to see a shift in projects from the huge capacity improvements like the 60-65 interchange – which is itself a $60 million project – down to just resurfacing and repairing bridges and replacing bridges and maybe even smaller-scale projects," Miller said in the June 21 story.

Jobless Claims Increase

In the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 472,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 466,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 463,250.