PAT ISSUES GRITO AGAINST PUB BAILOUT FOR CITY

By Pat Ahumada
Mayor, City of Brownsville
(Today), the City of Brownsville's Public Utilities Board will meet at 5 p.m. to vote on a $2.5 million grant for the City.
This is the second year PUB bails out the city without increasing revenues to balance the budget. It is irresponsible. PUB should not be punishing rate payers by raising utility rates or late fees so the city can balance its projected $6.2 million budget deficit.
This violates the city's charter and bond covenants. I urge you to go to the meeting and oppose any rate increases.
We cannot forget how high utility rates were for years and we on the board at that time worked very hard to improve PUB and lower rates. To increase rates because the city cannot take responsibility for its own budget is not right and the rate payers should not have to postpone capital improvements; nor should it have to raise rates so commissioners won't have to make the tough decisions.
It is up to you.
I'd rather have a $60.00 per average household annual increase by doing what I proposed to balance the budget than their plan that calls for raising rates to continuously to balance the budget.
Citizens will pay much more than $60.00 annually with the current proposals to raise rates, because the city will never balance its budget in this manner. This problem was foretold by me in 2007 when
Below is my proposal for consideration or someone can submit something similar to make up the $6.2 deficit.
While we on the commission and some citizens may have differences of opinion on what is a priority and what is not, or what entity should be funded or not, I believe what we should all agree on is finding a way to balance the 2010-2011 budget at minimal cost to the taxpayer. The projected shortfall, not including the $5 million needed for streets or the $2.5 million caused by the recent lawsuit for issuing certificates of obligation to cover capital expenses without having to raise taxes, is $4.0 million.
The shortfall including the $2.2 million needed for capital outlay is $6.2 million and if you take into account the $5.0 million for streets to be paved, then our shortfall is $11.2 million, which would require a tax increase of $0.12 to cover.
However, based on my plan and by asking all to take personal responsibility to meet these challenges, we can correct the shortfalls initiated when the tax rate was reduced by $0.03 cents in 2006 by Mayor Trevino’s administration and to stop dipping into the reserves to balance the budget (also initiated by the same administration) by doing a combination of things to balance the budget.
Otherwise the financial hole will get deeper and the city will face a crisis that will require raising taxes substantially and all at once.
As mayor, citizens expect me to provide the direction our city should take, particularly when tough decisions need to be made for the overall good of our city. I remind you that we may not all agree on how best to proceed, but I believe what I propose will bring the largest benefit to our city at a minimal annual cost of $60.00 per average household to our citizens.
It is with this in mind that I reiterate the proposals for consideration and action to balance our budget:
1) Obtain a one time $2.5 million grant from PUB without rate increases.
2) Raise the property tax rate by $0.03 to raise an additional $1.5 million.
3) Adopt my initial $3.00 fee proposal, which will be committed for:
a) public safety equipment
b) health department to deal with animal shelter and pet overpopulation issues
c) the zoo and the cultural arts funding to help bring visitors and increase revenues. This fee generates approximately $1.6 million for the much-overlooked needs to build a healthy and prosperous city. Tourism dollars and an investment for public safety and the arts help attract tourists, commerce, and industry and improve our quality of life.
4) Raise Brownsville Urban System (BUS) rates by $0.25 cents per rider, which may not generate a huge amount towards balancing our budget, but it allows those who depend upon our public transpiration to invest in the system to reduce the burden on the transportation budget.
5) Apply a 15 percent rate across the board on all entities hosting Charro Days events and ask that all entities provide a workshop presentation to show how much of their income is generated from the festivities and their expenses. These funds should go to reduce the burden on our public safety budget, which requires overtime from public safety to host all these activities.
6) Pass an ordinance with heavy fines for litter violators who dump trash in isolated areas and graffiti area problems. American Security was willing to build a portable surveillance tower in a joint venture with the city to patrol and monitor areas of concern where dumping occurs.
7) Pass an ordinance that requires all arcade owners to pay $2,000 for the initial permit and a $150 annual fee per machine.
8) I also urge the issuance of 5-year tax abatements to investors in the downtown overlay district who improve their properties for the purpose of revitalizing downtown. Tax abatements can be coupled with GBIC seed monies for restaurants and bars that open downtown.
9) Energy efficiency audits need to be followed through to conserve energy.
10) Audits on CDBG funding need to be performed and evaluated.
11) Look into creating a Public Safety taxing district for citizens to control the cost for public safety. Without controls, a balanced budget today will be in jeopardy next year unless the cost is stabilized so that it does not take away from all the other quality of life needs our citizens expect from us.
14) Approximately two and a half years ago, I initiated the sale of half of the BCC Golf Course to BISD for over $100,000 per acre, with BISD wanting 54 acres, which should be revisited.

As you can see, the city has several options to balance the budget, but it is a matter of a willingness to do so for the short and long-term fiscal planning. The immediate can be accomplished, but living with the hope that something will get better for us if we do not take care of the long-term budget needs is foolish.
I suggest that we proceed with this plan or a similar plan to ensure the financial health of our city.
Had the city commission accepted these proposals back in 2007, much of what I had already proposed we would not be in the fix we are in now.
But some commissioners rejected the proposals because they do not want me to get the credit, which sacrifices the city´s best interest. It is my hope this commission will not make the same mistake it made in 2007 by rejecting these sound proposals that will balance the budget at a minimal cost to the average home owner and citizen.