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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
 Posted - 06/02/2007 : 11:51:10 PM
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So what you're saying Emile, is that because Smith has hassled Hanlon, he's going to get back at him with this foolishness?
Since so many restaurants in this City have primarily residents as their customer base, what do the citizens of this not so fair city gain? Let's see, I can go to Texas Roadhouse and pay 6% tax on my steak, or I can go another mile and pay 5%............. on general principals, I'm going to Medford!
And he's going to look into re-instating the resident exemption. For all the times we heard Ragucci used that in hopes of being re-elected, does he think we're going to believe he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart? |
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H1ghCh4r1ty
Advanced Member
967 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 12:09:24 AM
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Mr. Hanlon has certainly shown the city that his mind works in mysterious ways.
Perhaps it is the pre-occupation with Vermont or the pride of his basket weaving skills, one cannot predict these days.
Why institute a city tax that I can't recall in my lifetime?
The tax exemption should have happened last year. This is an election year BS strategy.
Emile Schoeffhausen |
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Middle-Man 1
Senior Member
188 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 10:10:52 AM
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| Last fall they did over Cleveland Ave and Birch Street. The section of Broadway from the Malden line to Glendale Square was also done and still is'nt totally finished. That was Mass Highway though so they get no credit for the good or the bad on that one. I don't remember any others. I have'nt seen any streets started so far this year. Does anyone know if they plan to do any? The last mayor seemed to do 6-8 streets over almost every year. The infrastructure will fall apart quickly if we don't keep upgrading as many streets as possible every construction season. Of course, with the runaway spending, maybe there's no cash left for road repairs. |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 10:21:34 AM
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I was just reading an article in the Globe about this proposed increase in the sales tax, which is being debated now in the state legislature. The article says that the legislature has until March 2008 to even discuss the issue.
You must be logged in to see this link.
I agree with justme -- if they're going to charge 6% here, and I can go not even five minutes down the road to the Station Landing to a restaurant there, why would I pay the extra money to eat here?
This is, indeed, just another political ploy by Hanlon to try to bail himself out of his outrageous overspending. His budget has increased again this year by $13 million -- so in the two budget cycles that Hanlon has been in charge, his budget has increased by $24 million. For what? What have we gotten in exchange for this? Dirty streets, a bloated payroll, hundreds of thousands of dollars being chipped out of free cash (money that could be used to keep the tax rate down), city employee morale that is at an all time low, people's reputations being slandered, and lie after lie after lie.
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 11:45:48 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Citizen Kane
This is, indeed, just another political ploy by Hanlon to try to bail himself out of his outrageous overspending. His budget has increased again this year by $13 million -- so in the two budget cycles that Hanlon has been in charge, his budget has increased by $24 million. For what? What have we gotten in exchange for this? Dirty streets, a bloated payroll, hundreds of thousands of dollars being chipped out of free cash (money that could be used to keep the tax rate down), city employee morale that is at an all time low, people's reputations being slandered, and lie after lie after lie.
You're on the money CK! We've gotten nothing for our tax dollars from this administration.
However, shouldn't the CC and BOA be taking some of the blame? Aren't they responsible to review the books and spending? Isn't that the responsibility of the finance committee? Don't they review and sign off on all bills?
I could be wrong, and if I am I'll apologize right now for my erroneous thinking. If I'm not, can someone tell me who's on that committee and how is it decided who sits on a committee?
As you all know by now, I'm definitely not a Hanlon supporter but, if we're going to blame people for lack of control and oversight....... we need to blame everyone who's responsible, not just pick the ones we don't like!
New thought!! Is it the auditor that should know? Certainly someone should have been aware of the overspending issues and addressed them. If it is the auditor, then I guess we'd never know because he's not going to tell anyone except perhaps the mayor or budget director.
Oh well............ I'm just trying to keep an open mind and not beat up on anyone that doesn't deserve it..... |
Edited by - justme on 06/03/2007 12:35:07 PM |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 12:56:11 PM
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You're right, justme. All those responsible should be held accountable. It's the Salaries and Accounts or Bills & Accounts Committee (I'm not sure of the proper name of it) who signs off on the bills, I believe. I'm not sure who's on the committee, but with all committees, it's the president of each body who appoints the committee members.
However . . . I believe the process is that the auditor has to sign off on all of the bills before they even get to that committee. I think that's how it works. Does anyone know the proper procedure for this stuff.
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Middle-Man 1
Senior Member
188 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2007 : 3:08:41 PM
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| We need to work on defeating this proposal to increase the meals tax from 5% to 6% local option or not. If cities like Boston and Everett adopt the measure how long will it be before surrounding cities like Medford, Malden etc jump on the bandwagon to get their piece of the pie. It'll spread like an aggressive cancer. This is just another one of many ways to extract more money from hard working people. It will never end. We were in a good financial position in this city just a couple of short years ago. With the heavy industrial tax base we have that should not have changed so quickly. Keep going this way and we'll be joining the growing list of cities across the state with proposition 2 1/2 over-rides on the ballot. Let's hope the city is not damaged beyond repair by the time the next mayor is in place in January 2008. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 08:44:51 AM
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| Does anyone know why the Mayors presentation of the budget last Thursday night wasn't televised? I would have liked to have seen it. |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 08:50:09 AM
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| I was told it was televised, massdee, but it was very quick, so if you blinked, you missed it. I was told that it took less than 10 or 15 minutes. |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 08:56:19 AM
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| I didn't think it was, but this wouldn't be the first time I was wrong! The hearings will be televised which is the most important aspect. As I understand it, other than receiving the budget books and Hanlon providing the highlights, there were no questions from anyone. |
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Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 09:09:27 AM
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That's my understanding as well. I guess the questions will come from the hearings.
Here's another question, though. It's my understanding that there were no meetings held with department heads regarding the budget. How can these same department heads be expected to appear before city government and answer questions about a budget they had no say in producing?
Just curious. |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 09:55:09 AM
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I got the same information CK. They did the same thing last year which may very well be part of the reason there were transfer requests. Department heads were given the figures with no input or discussion relative to what they believed was needed. I realize his new, inexperienced, people didn't have a clue, but there were many that know what their budget should be and just got stuck.
They were told this year meeting would begin in March, but they never materialized. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 09:58:27 AM
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| That makes absolutely no sense, but what does with this administration. So, this means the 13 million dollar increase "lies" squarely on the shoulders of Hanlon and Vetrano. |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 10:37:00 AM
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| It's my guess that the adminstration will blame most of the increase on things that they have no control over (i.e. health insurance), negotiated salary increses with most of the city's unions and full year funding of expanded code enforcement and overnight parking enforcement. We are so screwed. |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2007 : 10:43:12 AM
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| I think they said about 6 million of the increase is "fixed" costs. That still leaves plenty of fat we need to get rid of. |
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Budget
