IS IT TRUE members of Evansville City Council were surprised to learn this evening  that property tax collections received in December of 2013 missed the mark by about $2 million dollars according  to City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr ? …  City Councilwoman Missy Mosby reported to Council members that tax collection shortfall was about $1 million dollars?  …Miss Mosby stated that this shortfall is the reason why members of the Evansville Police Department can’t cash in earned comp time for this year? …Miss Mosby looked like a deer in headlights when she was corrected by City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr  that the true property tax collections shortfall figure was about $2 million dollars not $1 million dollars?  … Council was taken back when City Controller Lloyd stated that many other city department heads were ask to cut their 2014 budget because of this tax shortfall?  …we are extremely surprised that the other 8 members of Evansville City Council heard for the first time about this property tax shortfall at this evening Council meeting?
Russ looks like a million dollars in this picture.
Good pose bro!
Regulator: Someone must’a flashed up a picture of “Cher” in concert.
Starve the beast.
That Mosby lady missed the shortfall mark by only $1 million. Did this lady graduate from high school? What a financial mistake. Hope she didn’t make similar judgements when she reviewed the last 6 city budgets she was involved in.
Hey lady, give it a rest. She made a $ 1 Million mistake. We all make $ 1 Million mistakes.
Around here, it’s the City of Evansville, the EVSC, and Old National Bank that make these kind of mistakes.
Oops! They did it again.
This is shameful. Russ Lloyd should resign because he withheld important financial information from city council. He has breached the public trust. He was a failed as a Mayor and now as City Controller.
We have 10,000 abandoned properties in this county, no surprises about a tax shortfall. Liberal democrat white flighters caused a lot of this shortfall. We also lost 900 jobs in the last 2 years and no telling how many jobs during Weinzapfel’s 8 years. You don’t have to be a CPA to figure out there’s a tax shortfall. It’s pretty phoney of the city council to act surprised about something they already knew about. If they didn’t know they’re idiots.
pov: “If the don’t know they’re idiots.” Looking in from afar, that “explains” alot.
pov: “If they didn’t know they,re idiots.” Looking in from afar,I’d have to say “that explains alot”.
Remember Friend, as Finance Chair, called for 6 million dollar in cuts during the 2014 budget hearing, but, only received a fraction of the cuts by the administration, and the Council than cut the Dog Park 1.5 million…thank God for than mayor cut…now keep your eyes on the cash reserves, they will follow the same trail of the Russ Lloyd administration…
I certainly hope this does in Unroberts Phantom Park for good.
After all, wouldn’t it make sense to pay police labor than to repave one single road that was literally just ripped up? I know which one I support.
I hope the long term goal of Roberts being a park isn’t dead. But I do hope that Winnecke’s plan isn’t built. It looked like a lot of upkeep. I say build walking trails and let it grow up into a forest for now.
NO!!! The first order of business needs to be constructing a natatorium on the Hartke Lot. Why? Because UE’s swimming team could use the facility in similar fashion to IUPUI. If the city could talk a private developer into an indoor water park resort that would be a bonus.
Then, the UE boosters need to open up their deep pockets and bring back football. It costs $14 mil to run a FCS team but with a proper sized stadium it’s sustainable. Is that back at Black Beauty Field or is it next to Hartke?
And then from there a campus field house and city recreational facility where UE has a proper sized venue needs to go. This right here would house UE and any and all Div II and high school events (http://www.sanfordpentagon.com/page/show/871370-facilities). Amazingly that only cost $19 million or roughly 1/4th of this new hotel and apt complex.
A park is a waste of money and Roberts isn’t turning into one anyway. It’s staying the same as it is regardless if the city allocates the full $8 million, just approves one years worth, or approves nothing.
The dog park, playgrounds, basketball courts, and basically everything but the skate park are going in Wesselman Park. And the skate park is just playing musical chairs with Swonder.
Here’s the top biggest wastes of the plan.
1. Building a road back from division to the back lot that was literally just removed.
2. Expanding the entrance to Wesselman from Boeke while removing the entrance to the Roberts lot that’s already bigger.
3. Removing baseball fields only to have a new $15.5 million complex going up next to Goebel.
4. Demolishing a skate park behind Swonder only to place it in front of Swonder behind Hartke (and in the way of a future swim complex).
5. Spending a federal grant just to come up with this when we desperately need to fund a parks master plan.
For the time being, let it sit as an open field. Nothing makes a better memorial than an open area with a sense of something missing.
Sunny,
I don’t believe you. Tell us the cuts which Friend proposed, on which he was overruled by the Administration ? Is that even possible ? Wouldn’t he only be overruled by his colleagues on Council ?
How much of this is due to Daniel’s property tax caps?
It seems like Winnecke can’t keep the city budget in order. They also really need to start coordinating with the city council better too.
Caps are predictable and repeatable if we only had a Controller who paid attention to the revenue stream. Poor old Russ is too overloaded by the failures of the Weinzapfel regime to balance the books that he can’t do his job. Now if one big property went bankrupt and welched on the $2 Million I guess we have to give him a pass but otherwise this is on him. As for telling the council, it is that mutinous Mayors Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer that didn’t do his damn job by freezing the council out.
When is the 2012 City Audit due? The State Board of Accounts are 5 months late on posting the city audit so the public can read. Please tell me what the SBOA is hiding from the taxpayers of this city? Oh, I get it-Republican Governor and Mayor. Knowing that, we can expect a budget audit coverup.
What’s the latest on the riverboat tax shortfall? I seem to remember a prominent gop official disputing the CCO’s claim that revenue from the boat was down. Is it back to normal this year or heading down still?
Books have not been verified as being in balance for going on three years and we don’t apparently have an ability to project tax revenues from property taxes with any sort of accuracy; this is a joint city and county problem. The city budget is well over $200 million per year and it does nothing but grow year end and year out..we have a per capita spending rate higher than Louisville and Indy..now you know why Friend is always complaining about the cost of IT as it is simply a symptom of mismanagement. If we don’t get this financial disaster under control by hiring competent people to manage and administrate the city’s finances instead of playing games you will have a very difficult time getting bonds sold to pay for your waterworks as this I small interrelated because of the county’s overlapping debt. If you can’t predict revenue you can’t budget. Something is wrong and it is hard to pin point..is it the munis system or understaffing or mismanagement or lack of compentacy.
When I lived in Lexington, the city held a referendum on if they were going to take over their water operations from Kentucky American Water Co. Before I joined it was roughly 51-49 Yes.
Kentucky American Water gave me an entire map of all voters in Lexington and sent me out to talk with voters in each district day by day. On election night, the vote was well over 60-40 No IIRC.
Long story short, the biggest complaint the residents in Lexington could come up with is “We don’t want a German company running our water.” Wouldn’t that be nice if that was our only worry here?
It makes me wonder if we wouldn’t be better off privatizing the water dept to a company like Kentucky American Water who would surely be able to finance our infrastructure upgrades much more efficiently and cheaply.
Was that not tried already? I recalled fresh out of highschool in the 70’s being down inside the water works buildings. A well maintain, mechanical and building wise working system.
It went down hill fast after a “private for profit” business took over 25-30 years ago. Maintenance workers were let go, Schedule valve exercise not done. Which cause valves to freeze, and tanks not properly cleaned, expensive line taps to install new valves at the cities expense, not the private company. ect, ect, ect. The public would been infuriated had they seen what they were drinking.
A private company is there for a “profit” Corners are cut, oh, they will fix small things, but will let bigger ticket items to fester into huge expense, then the owner (the city) picks up those tabs!
Is it time for the city to close the doors, turn out the lights, and let nature reclaim that 45 square miles of asphalt jungle?
Counties problem?
If city would give up control of their duplicated services that “county only” residents already receive thru county government would be a start!
City government has run up their credit card for the last several administrations on frivolous “bs”.
Could the lost tax money from Whirlpool and its working force be a cause also?
Creditability?
The Winnecke Administration has none.
Is it just me, or did anyone else find the juxtaposition of the article on groundbreaking for the Hotel ($ 20 Million public subsidy) and the article on this $ 2 Million emergency shortfall, both on the Front Page of this morning’s (Tuesday, 3/11) C & P, illuminating ??
We sent them their check for March already . . . no idea why they put that $ 2 Million shortage on the freakin’ front page ! What are they thinking . . . right next to the ‘Tree article !
(sound of trash can being kicked).
Interesting reference…..
If the shortfall occurred in December 2013; and the Council only found out about it on March 10, 2014, that is indeed a PROBLEM (all caps).
As part of making up the $ 2 Million shortage, R. Lloyd, J. Collins and S. Schaefer should be given their walking papers. Those 3 moves alone save $ 250,000, or 10 % of problem solved. This would also make the Civic Center much more ‘civic’, if you get my vibe.
The “vibes” would have effective community balance,if you all morphed them into some “votes” next time around.
We have to have a City Comptroller, but the other two jobs could be cut. I think Russ needs to find a new job. ONB would probably hire him.
Schaefer’s job can surely be reduced to that of an “Administrative Assistant” and have the pay cut accordingly.
Russ Lloyd + Winnecke + Parke = 3x the DERP
If Phyllip was actually someone then it would be a 4 way tie for the king Derp award
but he is a nobody that just thinks he’s important
Didn’t Winnecke increase salaries by 20% recently. That’s where I would start cutting first.
Hee hee. Now that’s a good one, tax shortfall withheld from city council. Maybe I’ve been around the block one to many times but as time goes on Evansville becomes more and more of a town run by clowns.
Comments are closed.