For the truth folks you all need to visit the city web site and look at the 2008 Pickerington City Budget: Go to page 12.
http://www.ci.pickerington.oh.us/sections/government/2008Budget.pdf
The budget says the city debt is $25,200,805
Fix says the debt is: $29,717,773
The current general fund debt is: $11,156,205 (THAT INCLUDES THE DILEY ROAD DEBT). I think Fix took the total debt and for good measure put in more debt to embellish his statement.
There is around $4.1 Million in TIF debt.
Mr. Fix claims that our level of debt ?“is ridicules?”.
First the city had an A2 Moody?’s credit rating at the end of 2007. The city had around $1.3 million in general fund reserve money. I support a 2% income tax with a 100% credit to maintain the above ratings and the general fund reserve. It will cost the city less in interest in the future with high credit or bond ratings.
Apparently experts in the field of city finance disagree with Mr. Fix and the majority of council. Squeezing an extra $1.3 Million out of the City tax payers does not help the credit rating. It in fact lowers the rating because the rate of taxation is one factor in establishing the credit rating. Higher taxes lower ratings.
Most of the time when a person goes out to buy a home they must seek a loan to finance their purchase. The two major factors is their income and their credit rating. Clearly the credit rating is based on past history of paying your bills. The bond rating for a city takes into account a number of other factors but the ability to pay the loan off with the terms given holds the most weight.
When my wife and I were much younger we had to borrow money to get our first home. My base salary just barely covered the monthly payments and they wouldn?’t allow me to use the many hours of overtime I had each year as a statement of my income. That is much different today.
If we could equate my overtime pay in the 60s to the city using capacity fees and impact fees to qualify for its debt then you all can understand that we don?’t always have that overtime in tough times.
Clearly the city did address its problem with the tap fees paying off the debt of the water and sewer plants. I know Mr. Fix called me a liar but the fact is I tried in 2006 to get the city council to address the income issue. When the city first started using the income tax we were a village. In the early 90s the population passed the 5,000 mark and we took on a new set responsibilities. The state with this new city responsibly also gave the city extra powers to borrow money for the needed state mandates.
I would guess that there are very few young people out there that has their homes paid off and no debt on their cars. If they had waited until they saved the needed cash they would have never been able to buy their new home or car. I suspect Mr. Fix is in that same boat as the rest of us. He is in debt up to his ears.
By Ted Hackworth
http://www.ci.pickerington.oh.us/sections/government/2008Budget.pdf
The budget says the city debt is $25,200,805
Fix says the debt is: $29,717,773
The current general fund debt is: $11,156,205 (THAT INCLUDES THE DILEY ROAD DEBT). I think Fix took the total debt and for good measure put in more debt to embellish his statement.
There is around $4.1 Million in TIF debt.
Mr. Fix claims that our level of debt ?“is ridicules?”.
First the city had an A2 Moody?’s credit rating at the end of 2007. The city had around $1.3 million in general fund reserve money. I support a 2% income tax with a 100% credit to maintain the above ratings and the general fund reserve. It will cost the city less in interest in the future with high credit or bond ratings.
Apparently experts in the field of city finance disagree with Mr. Fix and the majority of council. Squeezing an extra $1.3 Million out of the City tax payers does not help the credit rating. It in fact lowers the rating because the rate of taxation is one factor in establishing the credit rating. Higher taxes lower ratings.
Most of the time when a person goes out to buy a home they must seek a loan to finance their purchase. The two major factors is their income and their credit rating. Clearly the credit rating is based on past history of paying your bills. The bond rating for a city takes into account a number of other factors but the ability to pay the loan off with the terms given holds the most weight.
When my wife and I were much younger we had to borrow money to get our first home. My base salary just barely covered the monthly payments and they wouldn?’t allow me to use the many hours of overtime I had each year as a statement of my income. That is much different today.
If we could equate my overtime pay in the 60s to the city using capacity fees and impact fees to qualify for its debt then you all can understand that we don?’t always have that overtime in tough times.
Clearly the city did address its problem with the tap fees paying off the debt of the water and sewer plants. I know Mr. Fix called me a liar but the fact is I tried in 2006 to get the city council to address the income issue. When the city first started using the income tax we were a village. In the early 90s the population passed the 5,000 mark and we took on a new set responsibilities. The state with this new city responsibly also gave the city extra powers to borrow money for the needed state mandates.
I would guess that there are very few young people out there that has their homes paid off and no debt on their cars. If they had waited until they saved the needed cash they would have never been able to buy their new home or car. I suspect Mr. Fix is in that same boat as the rest of us. He is in debt up to his ears.
By Ted Hackworth
