"Without the windfall, taxpayers likely would be footing that bill, or more likely, nothing would happen and our infrastructure would continue to crumble."
Where do you think this money comes from? It comes from the ratepayers. The water and sewer ratepayers, most of whom are also taxpayers, have been burdened with repaying $425 million dollars that should otherwise be used to pay for existing financial burdens of $3.5 billion for the CSO and Septic elimination programs (worthwhile projects) and the money stolen from ratepayers during the variable rate bond fiasco. Savings, if any materialize, should accrue to the ratepayers in reduced rates or fund needed maintenance (We are building $3.5 billion of new infrastructure and it will need to be maintained).
This is not free money that just fell from the sky. Citizens did not just pull it out of their back pocket. We, the ratepayers / taxpayers, are not off the hook; we have to pay it back, not them.
"But the most compelling evidence is the commitment Citizens is making to continue investing in the utilities. In addition to handing over cash and taking on city debt, Citizens must make costly sewer upgrades, and CEO Carey Lykins has said the company also will complete a septic tank replacement program that’s under way."
Again, Citizen's is not assuming any debt or paying for any costly upgrades; it is the debt of the ratepayers and it is the ratepayers who are paying for the costly upgrades. Guess what, before the transfer and sale, the debt was the responsibility of the ratepayers and after the transfer (sale), the debt will remain the responsibility of the ratepayers!
In summary, it is a tax increase; it will just be hidden within our future water and sewer bills. And if you don't know that, you are stupid. And if you are not stupid, then you are lying. And in either case, you are just repeating the City's propaganda, rendering this newspaper to the same worthless status as the local weekly rag.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The UCC says .... you
With respect to the January 14, 2011, news release from the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor regarding the acquisition of the City of Indianapolis’ water and wastewater utilities, who exactly runs the Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor? Clearly, they don't represent the consumers. How could they come to the conclusion that it is equitable, reasonable, efficient or prudent to recommend a transfer that obligates the ratepayers to an additional half-billion dollars of debt, not to improve water and sewer systems, which, of course, are both deficient, but to overlay streets and build sidewalks? Yes, they are an advocate; the question is, for whom?
Theft of the citizens by Citizens
While no one involved in destroying the finances of the water company, included the supposedly vaunted management team of Veolia has been reprimanded, fired, resigned, dismissed or arrested, an additional crime is being perpetrated on the citizens of Indianapolis by our “public servants” and the Board of Citizens Energy by negotiating a “sale / transfer” of the Water Company to Citizens. This “sale” will be paid for by borrowing against the water and sewer user fees that should only be used for supporting the delivery of water and sewer services to the customer. Instead, with this sale, over 260 million dollars would be borrowed by Citizens (paid for by our user fees) for a thirty-year period, with said funds being deposited in the coffers of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
Our water fees, which have already been raised (and are proposed to be raised by more than a third) because of the ongoing financial malfeasance are now intended to be diverted to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
The Council has already passed a proposal (132, 2010) to divert money from the user fees paid by the sanitary sewer district, managed by United Water, by bonding against payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) funds (Yes, a portion of our wastewater fees for our public sanitary sewer service are sent to the city general fund as taxes instead of providing for our utility service – so, yes it is a hidden tax permitted by the State Legislature in P.L.27-1992, SEC.27), to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
Of course, we are supposed to be happy about this diversion of user fees because savings have been wrangled from so-called “value engineering” and additional savings have been projected from the synergistic effect of combining the water and sewer utilities under the management of Citizens Energy, a public trust. Our happiness should occur despite the fact that sewer user fees are projected to rise by 400% over the next 10-20 years to pay for the $3.5 billion project related to the Combined Sewer Overflow consent decree and Septic Elimination program, etc.
Well, any savings should accrue to the water and sewer ratepayers, with a reduction in the rate of increase of future fees needed to pay for the Consent decree and maintenance of the existing and proposed improvements. They should not be diverted again (as with PILOT funds diverted during this decade) to fund other city operations. If a transfer of these “public” utilities to a “public” trust is reasonable and prudent, it should occur without any transfer of funds from the ratepayers to the City of Indianapolis general fund. It also should not include the continuation of any contracts with Veolia or United Water. If transferring this entity to Citizens makes sense, then it would not make sense to insert / retain an unnecessary layer of management between Citizens and the services and customers that they are proposed to be responsible for. Anything else would continue and exacerbate the financial and management absurdities related to our public sewer and water services.
In summary, this transfer should be no different than any other transfer of duties or responsibilities from one public entity to another. The fact that Citizens and the city would be borrowing money over a 30-year period to pay for, what are for the most part, temporary improvements should give anyone pause. All aspects of the private and public realm are over leveraged. Yet, the solution that is proposed is another "rob Peter to pay Paul" scheme. The only proposal that should be considered is a straight-forward transfer of duties.
Our water fees, which have already been raised (and are proposed to be raised by more than a third) because of the ongoing financial malfeasance are now intended to be diverted to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
The Council has already passed a proposal (132, 2010) to divert money from the user fees paid by the sanitary sewer district, managed by United Water, by bonding against payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) funds (Yes, a portion of our wastewater fees for our public sanitary sewer service are sent to the city general fund as taxes instead of providing for our utility service – so, yes it is a hidden tax permitted by the State Legislature in P.L.27-1992, SEC.27), to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
Of course, we are supposed to be happy about this diversion of user fees because savings have been wrangled from so-called “value engineering” and additional savings have been projected from the synergistic effect of combining the water and sewer utilities under the management of Citizens Energy, a public trust. Our happiness should occur despite the fact that sewer user fees are projected to rise by 400% over the next 10-20 years to pay for the $3.5 billion project related to the Combined Sewer Overflow consent decree and Septic Elimination program, etc.
Well, any savings should accrue to the water and sewer ratepayers, with a reduction in the rate of increase of future fees needed to pay for the Consent decree and maintenance of the existing and proposed improvements. They should not be diverted again (as with PILOT funds diverted during this decade) to fund other city operations. If a transfer of these “public” utilities to a “public” trust is reasonable and prudent, it should occur without any transfer of funds from the ratepayers to the City of Indianapolis general fund. It also should not include the continuation of any contracts with Veolia or United Water. If transferring this entity to Citizens makes sense, then it would not make sense to insert / retain an unnecessary layer of management between Citizens and the services and customers that they are proposed to be responsible for. Anything else would continue and exacerbate the financial and management absurdities related to our public sewer and water services.
In summary, this transfer should be no different than any other transfer of duties or responsibilities from one public entity to another. The fact that Citizens and the city would be borrowing money over a 30-year period to pay for, what are for the most part, temporary improvements should give anyone pause. All aspects of the private and public realm are over leveraged. Yet, the solution that is proposed is another "rob Peter to pay Paul" scheme. The only proposal that should be considered is a straight-forward transfer of duties.
Water is life
Streets and sidewalks are important elements of a city, but water is life and sanitation is health. We can live without the first two elements, maybe inconveniently, but we can live. We can not live without the second two elements. Obligating water and sewer ratepayers and squandering precious financial resources for short-term temporary repairs of streets is reckless, unethical and immoral. The utility transfer is supposedly based on the premise that future savings will be realized from engineering efficiencies and from savings resulting from the synergies of the utilities being operated by Citizens (and Veolia and United Water – huh?). However, those future savings are not assured, just as the savings from the Department of Waterworks variable-rate bonds as well as all other promises of savings propagandized over the last few years, decades or centuries were not assured. Time after time, savings never materialize and expenses continue to rise until the next great scam (creative idea) is proffered to the citizens (serfs).
While many appear to be dismissive of the idea that serious inflation and even hyperinflation may be just around the corner; it appears foolhardy to assume that inflation or other financial maladies could not befall us all in the upcoming decade. Prudence would dictate that we tread carefully in obligating “citizens” to more unending debt. But I suppose that when a city’s economic mantra is a Ponzi scheme, I suppose it may be foolish to expect anything other than financial machinations.
While many appear to be dismissive of the idea that serious inflation and even hyperinflation may be just around the corner; it appears foolhardy to assume that inflation or other financial maladies could not befall us all in the upcoming decade. Prudence would dictate that we tread carefully in obligating “citizens” to more unending debt. But I suppose that when a city’s economic mantra is a Ponzi scheme, I suppose it may be foolish to expect anything other than financial machinations.
PILOT - Payoffs in lieu of theft
Furthermore, this proposal is a scam to pay off campaign contributors, while incurring 30-year long-term debt to be repaid by the water and sewer ratepayers for the repaving of streets that will need repaved in four or five years. Any idiot knows that you only borrow for long-lasting capital expenditures; not for operating expenses, maintenance and repairs, and you definitely don’t steal dedicated funds to pay for other unrelated projects.
And, as for alternatives, I have already told Chris Cotterill directly to his face in a public meeting, that if the city wants to fix the street and sidewalk infrastructure, then they should go to the legislature and raise the gas tax (enact a transparent local gas tax, if necessary) to an adequate level to fund infrastructure, at a rate that will allow the city to catch up, with the backlog over a period of time. Our wonderful “public servants” have no problem running to the legislature again and again to beg to raise taxes, so that they can give more money to millionaires and billionaires or to subsidize a minor portion of our economy. This proposal (and the already passed PILOT bond (paid out of sewer fees) is a tax, hidden within our sewer and water fees, but I don’t expect the corporate media to do anything but spew out the government’s talking points, lie, attack truth tellers and attempt to get the sheep to follow.
And, as for alternatives, I have already told Chris Cotterill directly to his face in a public meeting, that if the city wants to fix the street and sidewalk infrastructure, then they should go to the legislature and raise the gas tax (enact a transparent local gas tax, if necessary) to an adequate level to fund infrastructure, at a rate that will allow the city to catch up, with the backlog over a period of time. Our wonderful “public servants” have no problem running to the legislature again and again to beg to raise taxes, so that they can give more money to millionaires and billionaires or to subsidize a minor portion of our economy. This proposal (and the already passed PILOT bond (paid out of sewer fees) is a tax, hidden within our sewer and water fees, but I don’t expect the corporate media to do anything but spew out the government’s talking points, lie, attack truth tellers and attempt to get the sheep to follow.
Diversion perversion
While no one involved in destroying the finances of the water company, included the supposedly vaunted management team of Veolia has been reprimanded, fired, resigned, dismissed or arrested, an additional [wrong] is being perpetrated on the citizens of Indianapolis by our city-county councilors, Mayor [Greg] Ballard and the board of Citizens Energy, by negotiating a “sale” of the water company to Citizens.
This “sale” will be paid for by borrowing against the water and sewer user fees that should only be used for supporting the delivery of water and sewer services. Instead, over $260 million will be borrowed by Citizens (paid for by our user fees) for a 30-year period, with said funds being deposited in the coffers of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
The fees paid to the water company that have already been raised (and are proposed to be raised by more than a third) are now intended to be diverted to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
Of course, we are supposed to be happy about this diversion of user fees because savings have been wrangled from so-called “value engineering” and additional savings have been projected from the synergistic effect of combining the water and sewer utilities under the management of Citizens Energy, a public trust.
Our happiness should occur despite the fact that sewer user fees are projected to rise by 400 percent over the next 10-20 years to pay for the $3.5 billion project related to the combined sewer overflow consent decree and septic elimination program, etc. Any savings that might occur should be reflected in a reduction of the proposed rate increases that water and sewer ratepayers would pay in the future.
This “sale” will be paid for by borrowing against the water and sewer user fees that should only be used for supporting the delivery of water and sewer services. Instead, over $260 million will be borrowed by Citizens (paid for by our user fees) for a 30-year period, with said funds being deposited in the coffers of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
The fees paid to the water company that have already been raised (and are proposed to be raised by more than a third) are now intended to be diverted to repave streets and repair and construct sidewalks.
Of course, we are supposed to be happy about this diversion of user fees because savings have been wrangled from so-called “value engineering” and additional savings have been projected from the synergistic effect of combining the water and sewer utilities under the management of Citizens Energy, a public trust.
Our happiness should occur despite the fact that sewer user fees are projected to rise by 400 percent over the next 10-20 years to pay for the $3.5 billion project related to the combined sewer overflow consent decree and septic elimination program, etc. Any savings that might occur should be reflected in a reduction of the proposed rate increases that water and sewer ratepayers would pay in the future.
Transparency
Since it appears that the Citizens Energy user fee theft will be approved regardless of the implications of such approval, I propose, for the sake of transparency, that our water and sewer bills be itemized so that everyone knows how much is being stolen from them each and every time a payment is remitted. So, at a minimum the water and sewer bill should indicate the portion of each sewer bill dedicated to payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), including the 30-year bond payments (City Tax); should indicate the portion of the water and sewer bill paid to the City (2010 Street and Sidewalk Repairs – 30-Year Bond) for the transfer the water and sewer utilities; should indicate the cost of the water company extricating itself from the variable-rate bond fiasco (Cost of Variable-rate Bond Fiasco), and should indicate the cost of paying Veolia to continue to provide poor service and poor water quality, while continuing to enrich itself (Cost of Privatization).
Inbred Government
This goes to show that the issue goes beyond party affiliation, as the school board is non-partisan, but aligns itself with the administration, because they see themselves as being apart of big government. Just as the council aligns itself with the mayor, based on party affiliation, the school board aligns itself with the administration, in order to share in the spoils of big government.
So, they think it is perfectly natural to use the administration's lawyer and take the administration proposals (see how Eugene White acted when someone dared question the administration’s proposal) as gospel. Because, why not, aren't they all in this together - brothers in arms?
Usually it is unspoken, but sometimes those in government let it slip that the public process is merely an impediment to get through and is not to be taken seriously beyond merely going through the motions and maintaining the illusion of public decision-making. That is why your blog and others are continuously attacked because you dare raise questions and make people uncomfortable. They have grown used to doing what they want without any real scrutiny.
Because of that it is even more vital that the media really investigate government and stop reading and regurgitating press releases.
So, thank you Kara Kenney for making an effort - just don't let up - and, of course, thanks Paul for all that you do.
So, they think it is perfectly natural to use the administration's lawyer and take the administration proposals (see how Eugene White acted when someone dared question the administration’s proposal) as gospel. Because, why not, aren't they all in this together - brothers in arms?
Usually it is unspoken, but sometimes those in government let it slip that the public process is merely an impediment to get through and is not to be taken seriously beyond merely going through the motions and maintaining the illusion of public decision-making. That is why your blog and others are continuously attacked because you dare raise questions and make people uncomfortable. They have grown used to doing what they want without any real scrutiny.
Because of that it is even more vital that the media really investigate government and stop reading and regurgitating press releases.
So, thank you Kara Kenney for making an effort - just don't let up - and, of course, thanks Paul for all that you do.
War criminals are US
Why is George Bush walking around admitting that he is a war criminal and no one even blinks an eye? Shouldn’t he be immediately arrested along with his brown-skinned clone, Obama, who has no problem with assassinating American citizens? But, I guess that is not surprising in a country where our local and national law enforcement agencies have periodically firebombed its citizens and routinely radiates and molests them in public places.
The fact that Americans blissfully meander through their lives, more concerned with which sports team has won or lost or reality show contestant has been eliminated, while our leaders kill, maim and torture people in multiple countries of the Middle East and Asia and cause our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters to be killed, maimed and tortured, is shameful, to say the least. With further threats of expanding our criminal war machine throughout the world, if we don’t stop believing the lies of our current criminal-in-chief, Obama and demand justice be served against our former Criminals-in-chief, Bush and Clinton, we ensure nothing less than our own destruction. Real change would involve indicting, convicting and jailing; en masse, our criminal leadership; only that will, in time, bring about real safety, security and freedom. Anything less will result in more of the same “Slavery is Freedom and War is Peace,” propaganda that we seem to so willingly accept.
The fact that Americans blissfully meander through their lives, more concerned with which sports team has won or lost or reality show contestant has been eliminated, while our leaders kill, maim and torture people in multiple countries of the Middle East and Asia and cause our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters to be killed, maimed and tortured, is shameful, to say the least. With further threats of expanding our criminal war machine throughout the world, if we don’t stop believing the lies of our current criminal-in-chief, Obama and demand justice be served against our former Criminals-in-chief, Bush and Clinton, we ensure nothing less than our own destruction. Real change would involve indicting, convicting and jailing; en masse, our criminal leadership; only that will, in time, bring about real safety, security and freedom. Anything less will result in more of the same “Slavery is Freedom and War is Peace,” propaganda that we seem to so willingly accept.
JHA - sinecures
Why hasn't the Tribune exposed the deleterious impacts that the housing authority has had on the community while staff and board members enjoy luxuries paid for by the taxpayers? At a minimum, the Tribune should be annually publishing or providing a data base link of all public salaries (and I mean all). But this is how government works (doesn't); constituencies become entrenched, do whatever is deemed necessary to preserve themselves and turn "public service" positions into sinecures. So, nothing in the article is surprising since no real public review of this agency (which does not even have a website) has ever occurred.
By the way, where does Mr. Kanuch live? I doubt that it is in the City of Johnstown, where he and his high-paid cohorts have further devastated declining neighborhoods (while the City council and administration sits by and watches) through the recruitment and general Section Eight (8) policies of the Johnstown Housing Authority. He would never subject himself and his family to what he has subjected the remaining families of Johnstown.
No one heading a public service agency in this small town or small region should be making anywhere near $118,000. Actually, the housing agency, arguably, should have ceased to exist decades ago. However, when the media is complicit, due to lack of reporting, investigating and questioning, the disease of sinecurism can not be cured.
By the way, where does Mr. Kanuch live? I doubt that it is in the City of Johnstown, where he and his high-paid cohorts have further devastated declining neighborhoods (while the City council and administration sits by and watches) through the recruitment and general Section Eight (8) policies of the Johnstown Housing Authority. He would never subject himself and his family to what he has subjected the remaining families of Johnstown.
No one heading a public service agency in this small town or small region should be making anywhere near $118,000. Actually, the housing agency, arguably, should have ceased to exist decades ago. However, when the media is complicit, due to lack of reporting, investigating and questioning, the disease of sinecurism can not be cured.
Theft is theft
It is really not that hard to treat ordinary spaces well if,(okay, real big if) over time, there are consistent standards of site design and / or businesses take the long view instead of the short view in development. Then the people have to consistently demand that their "public servants" maintain the built environment. In the past (and continuing to the present), gross exemptions to basic standards, a transfer of wealth, were provided to political cronies (names familiar to everyone in whatever city one may reside in) and presently wealth is transferred in other ways from the many to the few to create special places for visitors, further marginalizing the previously neglected areas of the city.
Burn, baby burn
Until everyone!!!! realizes that the corruption is endemic and that it doesn't get exposed because everyone else tangentially involved wants to keep their job, their suburban house, three-car garage, five near-luxury vehicles and the summer vacations in Bermuda, there can not and will not be any change. The masses think that one party or the other (or at least certain members thereof) are on their side. Well, they are not, never have been and never will be.
The bulls... being plied by Goldsmith and his cronies was evident when he first ran for mayor, but some people still lap it up no matter how putrid it gets. But that is the result when we allow our public servants to play divide and conquer while each takes turns plundering our cities, states and nation (and the world via a hegemonic empire).
Until we reject the political parties and literally burn their dried elephant and donkey carcasses at the stake, it will only be us getting scorched, burned and buried in ashes.
The bulls... being plied by Goldsmith and his cronies was evident when he first ran for mayor, but some people still lap it up no matter how putrid it gets. But that is the result when we allow our public servants to play divide and conquer while each takes turns plundering our cities, states and nation (and the world via a hegemonic empire).
Until we reject the political parties and literally burn their dried elephant and donkey carcasses at the stake, it will only be us getting scorched, burned and buried in ashes.
The Department of War strikes again
Of course, Obama (Bush III) is telling Gaddafi not to kill his own people, while, by remote-control, we kill innocent civilians in a half-dozen countries and while, here at home, we slowly kill U.S. citizens by subjecting them to radiation from porno-scanners at airports. Oh, I almost forgot, Obama has already indicated that he has the authority to assassinate American citizens that he decides are terrorists. The terrifying thing is that it appears that hardly anyone cares (not counting partisan hacks). Shouldn’t he be impeached for stating such a thing? In my mind, he has clearly cemented his place in history with the war criminals of the Bush administration. And the crowds continue to cheer.
Furthermore, please tell me how we enforce a no-fly zone without killing people, particularly civilians in Libya. Haven’t we made a big enough mess of the Middle East since the middle of the 20th century? Do we have to keep interfering and sinking deeper and deeper into this morass? I don’t believe that we have the moral authority to chastise any country’s leader about anything. Whatever moral authority we may have had was lost long ago, with our immoral and illegal wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq (continuously since the 1990 when including sanctions and no-fly zones) and our even more evil forays into Pakistan, Yemen and every other place we decide needs to be droned. The acceptance of all this evil is destroying this nation, slowly but surely. It is sad to watch.
Furthermore, please tell me how we enforce a no-fly zone without killing people, particularly civilians in Libya. Haven’t we made a big enough mess of the Middle East since the middle of the 20th century? Do we have to keep interfering and sinking deeper and deeper into this morass? I don’t believe that we have the moral authority to chastise any country’s leader about anything. Whatever moral authority we may have had was lost long ago, with our immoral and illegal wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq (continuously since the 1990 when including sanctions and no-fly zones) and our even more evil forays into Pakistan, Yemen and every other place we decide needs to be droned. The acceptance of all this evil is destroying this nation, slowly but surely. It is sad to watch.
Illegal is still illegal
It always amazes me that the obvious results of exporting jobs, importing workers and engaging in other forms of labor and environmental arbitrage are a mystery to newspaper editorialists and many of our so-called public leaders. Despite the fact that it should be evident to all by now, but apparently isn’t, that our real economy has been layered with a decades long, debt-based Ponzi scheme that provided the excuse for importing workers that simultaneous created an illusionary economy while permitting the transfer of wealth from the many to the few.
Delph is trying to address the issue of this oversupply of labor (remember it was never really needed), the demand (present and future) for public funds and services and the protection of our national sovereignty. Again, Indiana’s problems are mild compared to what they will be. Ask anyone still in California who has to deal with the onslaught of illegal aliens on a daily basis what the impacts to society are. Does anyone not think that it is more than just coincidental that the states with the most entrenched illegal alien population (and most entrenched illegal alien service providers and illegitimate business exploiters) have the largest budgetary problems? Operating large welfare systems that support illegal aliens (who routinely ship earnings out of the country) and the myriad financial, educational, health, social, cultural and addiction problems that many of them bring with them are foisted on the unsuspecting (the clueless ones) American public, with the attendant propaganda. Many more citizens become surprised when they realize that working does not prevent nor discourage some of the illegal aliens from belonging to criminal gangs. However, by sanctioning the illegal behavior of invading the sovereignty of this nation, we continue to forfeit our rights to decide who will be a positive contributor (we maybe wrong sometimes, but it should be our decision) to our nation and we are forced to except the good, the bad, the indifferent and the pathologically criminal, without scrutiny. It is not yet too late to reverse the tide, but it may be too late very, very soon.
Delph is trying to address the issue of this oversupply of labor (remember it was never really needed), the demand (present and future) for public funds and services and the protection of our national sovereignty. Again, Indiana’s problems are mild compared to what they will be. Ask anyone still in California who has to deal with the onslaught of illegal aliens on a daily basis what the impacts to society are. Does anyone not think that it is more than just coincidental that the states with the most entrenched illegal alien population (and most entrenched illegal alien service providers and illegitimate business exploiters) have the largest budgetary problems? Operating large welfare systems that support illegal aliens (who routinely ship earnings out of the country) and the myriad financial, educational, health, social, cultural and addiction problems that many of them bring with them are foisted on the unsuspecting (the clueless ones) American public, with the attendant propaganda. Many more citizens become surprised when they realize that working does not prevent nor discourage some of the illegal aliens from belonging to criminal gangs. However, by sanctioning the illegal behavior of invading the sovereignty of this nation, we continue to forfeit our rights to decide who will be a positive contributor (we maybe wrong sometimes, but it should be our decision) to our nation and we are forced to except the good, the bad, the indifferent and the pathologically criminal, without scrutiny. It is not yet too late to reverse the tide, but it may be too late very, very soon.
Amanda - older and wiser
It’s been a long time folks. Yes, it is me, Amanda, still curious as ever; however, I am five years older and in the 11th grade at Princess High School in Prince, IN. Not surprisingly, in light of the current economic situation, we have been learning a lot about the principles of good government; unfortunately, my teacher has had difficulty providing us with recent concrete examples. So, I have been spending a lot of my free time watching the government channel of Indianapolis to find my own examples of good government principles being applied. Ok, I know; I am not a typical teenager. Particularly, I paid attention to a proposal to sell the water company to Citizens Energy. Needless to say it was quite a learning experience. Did you know that Citizens Energy is a public trust (maybe the name should have gave me a clue – duh)?
I have learned that one of the principles of good government is that government should be financed by user fees for all direct services to individuals. Although the idea to transfer water and sewer utilities to Citizens seemed to be almost a no-brainer, I was surprised when I heard that Citizens (remember it is a public trust) would borrow millions of dollars (funded by user fees), to transfer to a public agency (the Department of Public Works of the City of Indianapolis), to fund street and sidewalk infrastructure projects. I was even more surprised that a lot of the Councilors seemed to think it was a good idea. Then the presenters also started talking about bonds being issued against PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes – I think) revenue in such a confusing manner (Wasn’t everyone involved public, so why would taxes even be an issue?); my head started to hurt. One thing that I thought I had learned in school was that user fees and taxes should be clearly applicable to the services rendered, transparent and understandable. I couldn’t figure out why Citizens (public trust) would pay the City (public) so that it could pave streets and build sidewalks instead of just continuing to apply the requisite user fees to sewer, water and gas, respectively.
Anyway, I knew I needed some help, but unfortunately, our civics teacher was out with an illness, but later, on the way to the library, I stumbled across our mayor, Meg A. Mallard. I asked her whether she knew and understood what was going on with the Citizens proposal. She said it really wasn’t that difficult to understand; the Councilors and the City of Indianapolis were just trying to make it sound complicated to hide what they are doing from the general public, who they know (other than a few dedicated folk) don’t have time to stay abreast of everything going on the city. She said that many government officials don’t like to do the things that are easy to understand, because too many people would catch on too quickly and might stop their proposals. So they pretend they are doing creative, wondrous, complicated transactions to prevent the average person from really understanding what is going on until it is too late. Basically, she said that they are attempting to divert user fees from water and sewer ratepayers that would be too difficult to take without the proposed Citizens transfer as a cover. She said the proposal was a classic case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul (I am not sure who Peter and Paul are, but I understand that no one should rob Peter).” She continued by saying that if the City of Indianapolis, or for that matter the State or Federal government does not have adequate funds to repair, pave or construct streets and sidewalks, the proper thing to do would be to propose to raise the gas tax or some other dedicated infrastructure tax or fee to the appropriate level to meet their obligations. But that would be too transparent, so they haven’t done anything for many, many years to address this issue, so there is a shortage of funds to maintain the infrastructure within the right-of-way.
Well, as always, I thanked our small town mayor for helping me understand things a little better. What I have learned from all this is that good government is easy to understand and that bad government is not. So, folks, if you don’t understand what your government is doing, you probably are witnessing bad government. Well, back to Channel 16 to see if I can find some good government in action. There must be some of it somewhere, don’t you think?
I have learned that one of the principles of good government is that government should be financed by user fees for all direct services to individuals. Although the idea to transfer water and sewer utilities to Citizens seemed to be almost a no-brainer, I was surprised when I heard that Citizens (remember it is a public trust) would borrow millions of dollars (funded by user fees), to transfer to a public agency (the Department of Public Works of the City of Indianapolis), to fund street and sidewalk infrastructure projects. I was even more surprised that a lot of the Councilors seemed to think it was a good idea. Then the presenters also started talking about bonds being issued against PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes – I think) revenue in such a confusing manner (Wasn’t everyone involved public, so why would taxes even be an issue?); my head started to hurt. One thing that I thought I had learned in school was that user fees and taxes should be clearly applicable to the services rendered, transparent and understandable. I couldn’t figure out why Citizens (public trust) would pay the City (public) so that it could pave streets and build sidewalks instead of just continuing to apply the requisite user fees to sewer, water and gas, respectively.
Anyway, I knew I needed some help, but unfortunately, our civics teacher was out with an illness, but later, on the way to the library, I stumbled across our mayor, Meg A. Mallard. I asked her whether she knew and understood what was going on with the Citizens proposal. She said it really wasn’t that difficult to understand; the Councilors and the City of Indianapolis were just trying to make it sound complicated to hide what they are doing from the general public, who they know (other than a few dedicated folk) don’t have time to stay abreast of everything going on the city. She said that many government officials don’t like to do the things that are easy to understand, because too many people would catch on too quickly and might stop their proposals. So they pretend they are doing creative, wondrous, complicated transactions to prevent the average person from really understanding what is going on until it is too late. Basically, she said that they are attempting to divert user fees from water and sewer ratepayers that would be too difficult to take without the proposed Citizens transfer as a cover. She said the proposal was a classic case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul (I am not sure who Peter and Paul are, but I understand that no one should rob Peter).” She continued by saying that if the City of Indianapolis, or for that matter the State or Federal government does not have adequate funds to repair, pave or construct streets and sidewalks, the proper thing to do would be to propose to raise the gas tax or some other dedicated infrastructure tax or fee to the appropriate level to meet their obligations. But that would be too transparent, so they haven’t done anything for many, many years to address this issue, so there is a shortage of funds to maintain the infrastructure within the right-of-way.
Well, as always, I thanked our small town mayor for helping me understand things a little better. What I have learned from all this is that good government is easy to understand and that bad government is not. So, folks, if you don’t understand what your government is doing, you probably are witnessing bad government. Well, back to Channel 16 to see if I can find some good government in action. There must be some of it somewhere, don’t you think?
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