McAlester Watercooler PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. Thomas Paine - Introduction to Common Sense Rat Mail  TV Listings  NewsCapital  Yellow Pages  Mail  Docs New Watercooler Portal via Google
Opinion 10340
	Opinion submitted by Rat on 2010-03-05 14:51:13    (reads 547)
	City Sales Tax Receipts provided by Steve Harrison
	Comment submitted by GaBoy on 2010-03-05 15:25:45
	It looks like the cuts and "cost savings" were only a band aid. More severe and unpleasant cuts will be required. In biblical terms, the seven lean years are here!
	Comment submitted by Hal on 2010-03-05 16:04:41
	Yes. The point that needs to be understood is that there seems to be about an 18% shortfall -- AND there is NO indication that it will get better next year -- AND there is some indication that it will likely be WORSE. Further, since there is no end in sight, ALL reserves must be protected as much as possible. Reserves can ONLY be used for 'one-off' expenses of dire need. Not for reoccurring ones -- particularly NOT for payroll.
	Comment submitted by Brother on 2010-03-05 16:29:26
	There is no one who can keep this council in check. It won't be the city manager or the city financial officer. They will just do as they are told. I've been hearing that the city is right now about a million and half in the hole. How will they even come close to filling that hole in with their source of revenue dropping like a rock? Isn't this what is known as a "deficit budget" and isn't it illegal? Doesn't state law require that the budget be balanced? There isn't any more bond money to steal, Louis.
	Comment submitted by schultz on 2010-03-05 18:40:31
	There is reserve money -- enough for one raid to keep the firefighters happy.
	Comment submitted by countdown on 2010-03-05 21:21:56
	Let the ff pukes deal with federal control, no deals just go home. I like that idea. Bankruptcy is actually a good thing for McAlester.
	Comment submitted by Buddy on 2010-03-06 16:03:15
	Yes it is, countdown. The system at city hall is so far past the being fixed point it needs to be thrown out altogether. I definitely wish that the city would go bankrupt. The salary load for all the employees, plus the monstrous bond debt payment is so great - what I'm afraid of is that the city will RAISE water rates substantially in order to even try and make minimum payments since their sales tax is way down. Slitherman already said he was willing to raise water rates.
	Comment submitted by Hal on 2010-03-06 18:37:48
	Some simple math. There is less than 8000 households in McAlester. Raising rates by $25 per month would increase City income by less than $2.4 million for the year. (This does NOT address the approaching bond payment issues however. The bond payments tend to REQUIRE additional utility rate increases to cover them if needed -- part of the bond contract deals.) At first glance this appears to cover the CURRENT shortfall under the assumption that things don't get any worse on sales tax revenue. Big problem is that most economic forecasts expect significant price increases over the next few years. By contract this will drive payroll higher. So this rate increase won't be enough. City still has maintenance and material costs that are likely to skyrocket as well. AND much of the street and water problems still do NOT have funds to cover them. The most effective savings the City could to is to reduce payroll costs. Keep salaries flat -- or even reduced if possible -- and/or reduce staff.
	Comment submitted by Hal on 2010-03-06 19:35:39
	U.S. Growth Outlook: Still Anemic and U-Shaped but Risks of a Double-Dip Recession Are Rising By Nouriel Roubini 3/4/2010 | Last Updated EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A slew of poor economic data over the past two weeks suggests that the U.S. economy in 2010 is headed for – at best – a U-shaped recovery. The macro news, including data on consumer confidence, home sales, construction and employment, actually suggests a significant downside risk even to the anemic 2.7% growth which RGE forecast for H1. With the positive effects of the historic levels of fiscal stimulus due to fade this year, the U.S. faces at best a 1.5% growth rate in H2, which looks too close for comfort to a tipping point of a double-dip
	Comment submitted by Hal on 2010-03-06 20:04:49
	RGE Jobs Forecast The unemployment situation is the major determining factor is sales tax revenue changes. NOTE: the real unemployment rate -- not the headline one used to make people happy -- now stands at 16.8% and expected to go much higher.
	Comment submitted by Pete on 2010-03-06 22:00:56
	Lay off city employees! That is the answer, enough of milking the system, we cannot afford incompetence any longer. Dept. Heads should be first, look at what they do for their money, publish salaries of city employees then cut across the board. If the hangers on, the ones who are retired on the job, won't leave to make it easier for the ones who actually DO their job, then everyone suffers. We cannot afford the high salaries and get Wes Brown off the city payroll, he should not be on there in the 1st place. Take a look at the numbers, look for the pork and get rid of it. Steve knows how to crunch the numbers, present the findings, including the inflated salaries paid to the firemen and for God's sake, get someon to negotiate for the City next time the contract comes up. Right now, there is no one looking out for the taxpayer.
	Comment submitted by Susan on 2010-03-09 07:57:56
	I would like to see the firemen's salaries published on here as a stand alone item for discussion. It's within another one, can you do that Hal? I think it is highly newsworthy, wide angle when printed out but clear when you see it on the screen enhanced. Took me a few minutes to get it to come up but worth the effort to see the high salaries our fire boys are drawing off our poor little town.