|
REGULAR MEETING
<br />surplus that we enjoy in that solid waste fund. That rate ina
<br />our ability to serve residents well, so we thank you for that.
<br />FEBRUARY 13, 2017
<br />is a difference -maker in
<br />Mayor Buttigieg continued, You know how my eyes light up wl
<br />n we talk about waste water,
<br />even though it's not always considered a flashy topic. The latest
<br />math that we have, after a lot of
<br />work with the engineers, is that the current obligation with the E
<br />PA is a $713,000,000
<br />investment. If you think about how much that represents for eve
<br />man, woman, and child in the
<br />City of South Bend, it's pretty clear that we have to find a way to
<br />make this more affordable. We
<br />believe that we can save literally hundreds of millions of dollars
<br />for more or less the same level
<br />of environmental improvement. But, again, this is not optional.
<br />This is something that is
<br />mandated by law. It is the outcome of a consent decree, and so we
<br />are going to have to negotiate
<br />a new resolution. The City is continuing the process of preparing
<br />to do that, and we will be
<br />appreciative of support from the Council in that effort. I want to
<br />draw the Council's attention to
<br />something that we have been following closely, which is what h
<br />ppens with assessed valuation.
<br />You will notice that about halfway down the chart is the break-e
<br />Ven point—in other words,
<br />where that red line is either a positive or negative change to valt
<br />ation. Even now, it does not
<br />seem that our assessed valuation is even keeping pace with inflation,
<br />let alone what we know has
<br />been real economic growth. We appreciate the County Assessors
<br />willingness to work with
<br />analysts to try to get to the bottom of some of those discrepancies.
<br />We think this is important
<br />because there is a likely shortfall coming if this scenario contin
<br />s, when it comes to AB growth,
<br />and that could lead to a higher tax rate and more pressure on se
<br />ices, going forward. One way
<br />that you can tell that is if you look at land values —and this is n
<br />improvements, just the land
<br />around the City —the height of the column here represents how 1
<br />luch per -acre is being assessed
<br />on the land, and you can see that there is quite a bit of variation.
<br />Sometimes that variation can be
<br />explained, but we want to make sure that it is something that cat.
<br />be explained more frequently,
<br />because it is not always consistent within blocks, and so again tl
<br />is is one of the issues where we
<br />are really working with the Assessor's Office to try to shine a light
<br />on that and understand how
<br />we can lead the way toward better fidelity on those assessments
<br />we think that they show that those tough decisions pay off.
<br />Mayor Buttigieg continued, This is sort of a matter of interest, too,
<br />since I know the Council is
<br />often asked to weigh questions of density. The higher the bar on
<br />this graph, the more value per
<br />acre we are getting in terms of tax dollars. So, this is just a remij
<br />Lder that if you look at the more
<br />dense areas of development —of course downtown and Eddy St
<br />et being the prime examples —
<br />we are also getting a lot more bang for our buck. If you think of
<br />'t in terms of a fixed amount of
<br />services —you have to plow 1,000 feet of road, whether there is
<br />one (1) person living on it or
<br />one - hundred (100), and whether you're collecting $1 or $ 1,000,1100
<br />on it per acre. This is a
<br />reminder of the relationship between density and revenue effici
<br />cy. Some have asked what the
<br />impact of having a lot of nonprofit and University property in th
<br />community is on our tax
<br />revenue, so I wanted to lay it out from a landmass perspective: s
<br />venty -two percent (72 %) of the
<br />City is taxable; twenty -eight percent (28 %) is tax - exempt. The bond
<br />rating of the City, which is
<br />independent evaluations of our fiscal soundness: as you know, it's
<br />one of my favorite topics for
<br />financial updates, and I am pleased to report again that we havea
<br />AA bond rating. This is a lead
<br />table of second -class cities in Indiana. I used to be able to boast'
<br />hat South Bend had the best
<br />bond rating of any lead table. Unfortunately for my bragging rig
<br />its, the town of Fishers
<br />incorporated as a second -class city. So, nobody existing raced a ]
<br />[ead of us, they just changed
<br />their form of government and became a second -class city. So, e
<br />en though we no longer have
<br />those bragging rights, we are still among just four (4) second -class cities in the State of Indiana
<br />that have a AA rating or better. The thing I would draw your att
<br />ntion to is that the other three
<br />(3) are not communities that have a per- capita income of $19,0
<br />. The other three (3) are
<br />comparatively wealthy Indianapolis suburbs. So, this really is a
<br />estament to the Council, the
<br />Administration, and our predecessors, and our departments—panicularly
<br />the Department of
<br />Administration and Finance working hand -in -hand with Counci
<br />to make tough decisions that are
<br />paying off, because these higher bond ratings of course mean to
<br />er interest rates and taxpayer
<br />savings. They are an indication of the fiscal health of the City, 4d
<br />we are proud of them because
<br />we think that they show that those tough decisions pay off.
<br />Mayor Buttigieg continued, A quick breakdown of what is goin on with our General Fund. If
<br />we continue in the business -as -usual picture, there is going to be a $2,500,000 General Fund
<br />revenue drop due to what we have been calling the fiscal curve 1hat will kick -in in 2020. We
<br />el
<br />
|