IS IT TRUE MARCH 14. 2017

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IS IT TRUE we told you so?  …for many months we have been telling our readers that the City of Evansville Employee Health Insurance had around a $7 to $8 million dollar deficit with very little money in the rainy day fund to bring these medical bring bills currently? …every time we brought this subject up people in the Mayors and Controllers office said: “we don’t know what the hell we are talking about”? …we wonder how our tax and spend City Council Finance Chairmen is going to explain this issue away since City Controller Lloyd spilled the beans on this issue at last night Council meeting?  …we can’t wait to hear the political spin that tax and spend McGinn put on this issue?

IS IT TRUE at last nights City Council meeting City Controller Russ Lloyd publicly disclosed that the city’s Employee Health Insurance deficit is a whopping $7.5 million as of this week? …City Controller Lloyd said the city is going to move around $3 million dollars from the Computer Services Department (that is currently held in escrow) in order help pay off some of the current $7.5 million dollar Employee Health Insurance deficit?  …we wonder why at least one City Council member didn’t have the political guts to come forward and tell the truth about this problem?   …we are very appreciative that City Controller Lloyd came forward and finally told the truth about the city insurance deficit problems?  …we also predict you will be stunned to hear what the City Employees Healthcare deficit will be in three months from now?  …we hope you finally realizing why we keep harping about the city spending our hard earned tax dollars on fun and games and political pork barrel capital projects?  …we just don’t have enough money to pay our current operating expenses unless we borrow money from the Evansville Water and Sewer Department, take money from another City Department account or get an advancement from the  Riverboat Fund to make ends meet?

IS IT TRUE it was announced at Monday night Council meeting that the city will start paying down the City Employee Healthcare deficit from the Computer Services Department fund in two installments this year from the Local Income Tax fund?  …Controller.Lloyd said the city will move $3 million from this fund to help pay down the City Employee Healthcare deficit?  …he also stated that the City is now funding the Computer Services Department from money in the Local Income Tax fund?  …we are now wondering if City Council and the Mayor are quietly planning to ask the State to increased the percentage of the Local Income Tax fund without our knowledge?

IS IT TRUE we are extremely surprised to hear that members of the local FOP are talking about conducting a “VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE” against Evansville Chief of Police Billy Bolin?  …we are told that this subject will be discussed at Wednesday night FOP  business meeting?  …this meeting will be closed to the media and the public?  …we are also told if the FOP membership hold such a vote against Chief Bolin and it passes it could be extremely damaging to his professional reputation and future effectiveness as Police Chief?

IS IT TRUE we are extremely pleased that Evansville City Council tabled the request for a tax phase-in of Gabe’s superstore? …we take issue with tax and spend City Council Finance Chairmen Dan McGinn all-out push to approve this request? …Councilmen Dr. Dan Adams got it right when he suggests if Gabe’s request is approved it will open a floodgate of requests from other Shopping Centers throughout Evansville?… The council shall continue the discussion during the April 10 meeting?

IS IT TRUE we are extremely disappointed that City Council approved a preliminary resolution to grant Hemang Shah, with Kinship Hospitality a $750,000 tax benefits to his company that plan to build a hotel in Downtown Evansville? …recently Hemang Shah announced that he is building a 139-room Hyatt Place hotel without any public assistance? … last night Mr. Shah did a turnaround and announced that his company needs the $750,000  tax credit because of unexpected costs overruns concerning the demolition of the old Scottish Rite building in downtown Evansville?  …this seems like a personal problem and not a problem for the taxpayers of Evansville?

FOOTNOTE:  Todays “READERS POLL” question is: Are you disappointed in the Evansville City Council and the Mayor for withholding information about the current $7.5 million Employee Health Insurance deficit?

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Here is a video shot by the Evansville Courier&Press and residing on the INDYSTAR website about the Hyatt Hotel Project that the Mayor states will receive no taxpayer support:

    http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/10/17/details-released-new-18-million-downtown-hotel/92218904/

    Now in order to determine if the taxpayers are indeed paying in to this project we have some available information, and some of the other pieces of the puzzle are not available.

    We know from last night’s common council meeting that the project was “awarded” $750,000.00 in “tax” benefits. Kinship Hospitality LLC was created on 28 June, 2016 one would assume in order to do this Hyatt Hotel Project. The deed for the property was transferred to Kinship in January of this year (2017), but the actual purchase seems to have taken place at an earlier date which I have not been able to pin down, as the Vanderburgh County Assessor’s website has not posted any sales information. So we do not know the sale price, or who owned the property at the time of sale. What we do know is that the property’s new owner, Kinship, received an abatement for the property equal to the previous assessed value of the property, thereby eliminating any property taxes on the property, and indeed none have been paid since the new owners purchased the property, whenever that was.

    We also know that there will be the cost of updating a water line, and one would assume a sewer line, to serve the hotel. That cost will most likely be born by water7sewer ratepayers.

    Hemang Shah, who lives in Newburgh was identified as the “financial man” in their Kinship Hospitality LLC partnership, but no details about the financing was offered at the presser.

  2. C & P on 12-6-2016 reported that City Council approved $ 2.2 Million of transfers from other funds “to help payoff $ 2.2 Million of the city’s medical claims account, which was $ 7.3 million in the hole as of Nov. 30′.

    The City is now back up to $ 7.5 Million, so they are making negative progress to paying this debt down. Unbelievable !

    Last, does anyone know how the court-ordered negotiations between the Fire Dept. and the City re: health insurance premiums ended up ?

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