Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
5 months ago
April 28, 2010
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21 comments:
More details from the Worcester Business Journal - http://www.wbjournal.com/news46270.html
Mass College of Pharmacy is a non-profit that made a payment in lieu of taxes last year.
Not good for the city coffers.
MY first thought is that the two OBriens better figure a way to make do with $425,000 less in the city budget b/c that is what the hotel pays in real estate taxes plus probbBaly 10's of thousands more in personal property taxes.
$2.2M in fed'l money to fund 17 new Firef'er positions for 2 years = a cost of $65,500 per man annually.....soooooooooo maybe the number of new firef'ers will have to be cut back to 13 or 14 given this unanticipated property tax reduction THE CITY COFFERS WILL EXPERIENCE
BTW I thot starting fire f'ers are in the $35,000 range plus bennies...........how does it get up to 65,500 per new F'er even with $11,000 worth of health ins? That $2.2M going for anything else?
And................2 years from now when the $2.2M Washington grant runs dry...thEn what...........I tell you we are in dire finacial straits when Worc has to depend on grants, loans, and the like just to fund daily municipal operations. It is analogous to living on your mastercard to pay for groceries and rent andd making minimum payments every month.
I can SOMEWHAT, MAYBE, POSSIBLY understand $2.2M for a capital expenditure type outlay......for example:
a. new sidewalks that the city doesnt bother to shovel or
b. Yellow Boxes on every street corner or
c. sign posts with no signs on them or
d. airports w/no aero-plains or
e. empty parking garages or
f. new mattresses
g. new trash hauling municipal garbage trucks that are too high to negotiate Worc's streets that are heavily tree lined with trees that haVe not been trimmed since the Paleolithic Era.
BUT $2.2M FOR NEW EMPLOYEES WHO WILL JSUT HAVE TO be LAID OFF IN 2YEARS............MAKES KNOW CENTS TWO MOI???????
That $3.5M annual giveaway to teh Hand It Over Theatre that the city let them get away with by turning theeir real estate over to a non profit entity is looking more and more costly every day.
Just imagine a 10 yr annuity payment from the city to the Hand It over Theatre by virute of them going non profit and therefore paying no real estate taxes and yet some councilors continue to beat ten PIlot Payment drum. This is at best disingenous of our city coucil, at worse it's being less than candid and honest. You cannot have it both ways. This is truly obscene.
For the life of me I cannot under why the firemen, cops, teachers, The Q Man are not up in arms over this annual "reverse" donation the city makes to the Hand It Over Theare....EVERY SINGLE DAM YEARS FOR THE 10 YEARS...!!!!!!!!!
Id love to see the details of that PILOT payment and how much money was involved?
WPI is giving a few hundred thousand per year for the next 20 years or something to that effect, yet part of the deal is that the city uses the money for upkeep/upgrade to Institute Park.....priceless....we'll givea Pilot payment but we want it "rebated" to maintain muncipal infrastrucure on out nay-bore-hood....yet in the mid 1980's the city just handed them a quarter mile stretch of West St gratis....that means for free for you Chandler Business Ass'n dudes...!! [g] Do I get to tell DPW to repave my street when I make my next quarterly "donation" tommorrow?
Franlky, I am opposed to PILOT payments. If I was sitting high atop Mtn. St James, I would first insist the city clean up its financial house before I gave a dime to them. First thign I would do is hand back to all city employess everything they have contributed to their pensions plans and then I would give them Fidelitys telophonos numbre' and tell em .......you're on your own now.....ciao.
And BTW ask the Q Man and other PILOT Afficiandos if they pay Charter or the gas company more each month than they are req'd to pay.......I mean, excluding charities and the Dunkin Donuts tip jar, WTH their right mind pays for something they are not req'd to pay for? Ditto's for our asleep at the switch city councilors.
Jahn said...
"Id love to see the details of that PILOT payment and how much money was involved?"
I don't recall the details but the MCPHS PILOT payment goes directly towards the Worcester Public Library budget.
David, now that u mention it, I do seem to recall that. TY for jogging my memory . That's certain a worthy endeavor, but the devil is maybe in the WPL's budget line items?
Ya suppose maybe it's to keep the library open extra hours so MCP has an after hours study hall for their students?
I wonder how many pesos we're talking about here. If you really want run that library effciently, privatize it. That's not a knock on anyone at the Library it's merely financial reality. If other parts of the country can privatize their fire depts & prisons, surely libraries could also be privatized.
Afterall the Dewey Decimal system can be easily learned and a robot could easily retrieve the 1977 Buick Electra service repair manual that I sometimes have to request from the basement storage rooms. The WPL would henceforth be known as the Worc Privatized Lie-berry.
FWIW folks, I wrote out my property tax check today, so I tend to take it out on this blog vs smashing my fist through the wall. Water bill next week so expect add'll ,excessive posts
on page 56 of the manager's budget proposal, which is page 96 of the pdf file, you will see the library tax-levy expenses reduced by PILOT payments of 250,000 in FY2011
I am thinking about the Hotel scene here in Worc the last few decades
a. Sheraton Lincoln opened 1974 on leased land...razed 2008...34 year life
b. Howard Johnsons Hotel built mid 1960's(?)razed about 1995? (TY HC)....35 year life
c. Crown Plaza opened 1982 closed 2010 .....28 yr life
d. HOliday Inn Southbridge St built (?) converted to condos late 1980's......is it still condo's?
e. Days Inn Lincoln St ...built 1970's(?)...still there under a differnet name?
f. Hampden Inn Summer St built when??....Mid 90's?...still stands
g. Picknellys Hotel on old downtown Fire station site.... built 2002(?) [The irony of it all...a place to lay ones head to rest for the night built on the site of a former fire station]
h. Shrewsbury (Worc line)...new hotel at 290 & W Main St coming soon....just 1/4 mile over the city line into Shrewsbury....could have just as easily been built in the old Jamesbury industrial on the Worc Side of Lake Quinsig...same 290 egress....wonder why they went to Shrews instead?
i. Beechwood Inn ..built 1990(?)....still operating (was that place subsidized at all?)
I must have forgotten one or two here somewhere??
Bottom line.....we're going backwards as city when it comes to 1st class Hotel accomodations....Now you dont suppose that has anything to do with Worc's business base....??????.......why do we even need an airport???......unless we're going to make it into an air cargo hub?...can an airport survive on only tourist travel?
I'd love to pull out a few newspapers from the early 1980's when the Marriott was 1st built and see all the raaaah raaaaaaaah raaaaaaaah about how Worc will be the Paris of the 80's. Wonder if we gave them any incentives or subsidized loans?
I did pull up that library budget proposal. Interesting reading.
I was able to Only give it an Evelyn Woods perusal.
What immediately popped out at me was 6 Admin. assistants that cost us $51,000 each, including two of those six that cost us $61,000 each. Try pulling down that kind of money as a private sector Admin. assistant. And there are six of them. Is this Irving St or this Salem St?
Next up 6 custodians that cost us on average $37,000 each. Private sector custodians are good for about $22 -24,000 per year at the MOST ($10 per hr).
If I am a potential PILOT PAYMENT PAYEE, the first thing I would tell them is they have to get some of their wage levels down to what Admin asst's and custodians earn in the real world...then and only then do I pony up any vigorish to feed the SEIU.
Basically a good chunck of what the Pharamcy College "donates" to the library goes up in smoke to overpay some employees. This is called inefficiency where I come from.
What didnt pop up at me was any provision or detail for what ALL these employees will cost us for pensions and life time health insurance when they retire. I also did not see line item for empolyees who are out injured on duty? Kudos to the library if they dont have any. This future pension and health ins. is also known as unfunded future liabilities. Therefore, due to this glaring omission I must say this budget is Fuzzy Math at best b/c of what isnt there.
Joe Early stands test of time; [NORTH Edition]
Brian S. McNiff. Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Sep 16, 1992. pg. A.4
Abstract (Summary)
Worcester County Treasurer Michael J. Donoghue recalled August 1977 when Early got $5 million for the Worcester Centrum put into a public works bill, then the $10 million UDAG grant that helped build the Marriott Hotel, garage and nearby boulevard.
Good work digging that bit of information up T-T Man.
Whether it's a Baseball stadium or a convention center or a Hotel or renaissance theatre, gov't has no place subsidizing the construction or even being in that line of Business. The Centrum was and still is a finacial disaster given what taxpayers poured into it and what they never got out of it.
Let the private sector decide what s/b built in the above cases. Yes, even the private sector makes mistakes, but those mistakes are corrected immediatley when the hemmoraging starts. Witness the Shaw's on lower Grafton St. as such an example. It didnt work they shuttered & they place. Then witness something like the airport and it stays on life support for years. Same thing with city Hospital years ago.
BTW, I was sitting there st the lights yesterday and it had never occurred to me the the CSX deal would prob require that newly built Shaws structure be razed?????
And what did I just catch the tail end of 1/2 an hour ago on Bluto or Polito....did I hear correctly.....something to the effect this CSX deal MAY be getting derailed? Someone help me here. This cannot be true. I Only caught a very small part of waht was said
Scratch that comment above re: CSX. I just read the T&G...seems it's just the usual BS and grandstanding by a few pols who think they are important..
And Mike Obrien thinks the airport s/b valued based on how much money it throws off vs. what the underlying assetss are worth? Yes income flow is one way to value a "business", but that assumes the business is being operated properly.
Oddly enough, the city assessor has the airport currently pegged at $33M. Even if you subtrtact out the debt owed of how much $15M(?) that still leaves the city with a fair piece of change.
Imagine if a private airoprt compnay purchased the pplace even at say $20M that gives the city $280,000 in property taxes ($14 per 1000?) annually plus any personal PT's as well. Call it a pilot payment??
Put it on Ebay, just like someone did in upstate NY as few years. Should I place it on Craigs list as joke?
the AAs at the library are high-ranking para-professionals (they dont have MLS in library science)here is one of the job postings
http://worcpublib.org/about/Acquisitionjob.html
the custodians were outsourced in part at the wpl prior to renovation, there are contractors picking up trash in city hall.
workers comp is in a different budget under city manager, human resources. pensions and health insurance are in other parts of the budget
perfect time to integrate the libraries into the schools: purchasing, hr, technology, environmental management, fleet management, buildings and grounds
theres a paper clipping file on the Marriot at the WPL
http://www.worcpublib.org/resources/worcesterroom/worcesterclippings/headingsH.html
If I recall correctly, the Marriott owners received a loan from through the city, OPCD was the collection agent, and many years later Jordan and Arthur Chase were able to get the administartion to admit that it had neglected to collect on the loan once it became delinquent
T-T let these high ranking para-professionals walk into a local downtown office and see what kind of wage & bennies they can extract in the private sector.
Are you telling me the 6 custodians cited in the budget are Outside contractors and not on the city payroll?
And T-T as far as so called workmens comp. not being in each depts budget..this is EXACTLY what I mean about smoke & mirrors/ Madoof/ Enron bookkeeping practices/ommissions the city employs.
If, for example, a DWP employee is injured on duty it s/b charged to the DPW budget and not to human resources. The injured employee is a cost to the DWP and not the HR dept. DPW s/b charged and not HR.
Dittos for pensions and health ins. being in other parts of the budget. They s/b line items charged to the dept where the employee actaully works.
T-T how about this integration which I heard the other day traveling in rhode Island where teh gov't is so under water it's pitiable. SOmeone down there is talking about merging the police & fire dept tasks with a huge reduction in total employees resulting Think about it what could make more sense than having FF'ers out on the street 24/7. Keep a few of em (higher ups?) back at the fire barn to drive the rigs to the fire and no more make work emergency medical calls for teh FD to respond to with 24 ton ambulances.
Also, it reaally isnt WC for IOD'ers .the city has their own disablity system which frankly is another joke. All city employeess s/b in the regular Mass ste WC system like all private sector employees. What the state has legislated for private empolyers s/b more than good enough for gov't employees.
I do agree with you re: fleet managemtn...s/b all under one roof. No more littel repair & maintenance feifdoms in each city dept.
Looking like a nice weeknd end guys, except my property tax is due :(
One more question, T-T, on what basis do you define these AA positions as high ranking para professionals.
Just a brief analogy here......When I used to drive a trailer truck to northern NJ, drop the trailer and hook up to another for the backhaul, we euphemistically called ourselves "Trailer Relocation Specialists". Today they call themselves Professional Drivers.
We all know how it is with word usage these days. The junkie of years ago is now called a substance abuser or a "PINs" Person In Need Services. Hobos are now called homeless. A west side pol misapprpriates his campaign funds multiple times and its called a bookkeeping error.
looks like the fringe works out to 5000 per FTE if you look at page 60 of the proposal (page 100 of pdf) Not sure why the budget office doesn't assign the fringe to the library, it is reported to the state as an expense for the library paid by the city
http://mblc.state.ma.us/grants/state_aid/forms/downloads/fin_form.doc
The principal staff assiatnt and AAs have jobs like the HR director, business office manager, secretary to the Library Board, building manager, Acquisitions manager http://worcpublib.org/about/Acquisitionjob.html
gotta give the pharmacy folks some credit for stepping in, their one of the few vital operations downtown. I see their white robed students at eating establishments and also renting out apartments at market rates. Yes, the hotel is a loss, but education and healhcare are powering downtowns these days, and generating spinoffs. Worcester would be wiseto stop squabbling over PILOTS and embrace the economic engine of colleges.
T-T....... surely you jest? $5,000 per FTE (full time 'ee?) for fringe benefits. That's sweat shop fringe bennies.
Where do I begin?
a. A family health ins plan cost the city (and I am estimating here) $8 to $10,000.
b. Life ins. I have no idea
c. 4 weeks paid vacation even for a custodian is worth at least their $700 per week salary.
d. 13 paid haul-aaah-daize plus a couple of personal days plus a day or two for when Aunt Agnes or Uncle Buck dies = another 3+ full weeks at how much per week?
e. do they get free parking?
f. I will not even debate teh injured on duty monies.
My friend the list is endless and sorry.....but most people have littel idea of what it costs to keep a warm body on a payroll.
$40,000 per year union job in the private sector and you can prob figure an add'l 30%+ for fringes......gov't jobs it's even higher.
What do you think it costs to keep a ticket puncher on the MBTA payroll???
Are you telling me that Adm. Assistants are HR directors , business office managers, and building managers. I know building manager in a place about 3/4 the size of the library. Basically he's the head custodian.
And please dont tell me the library has their own building manager, a business manager, and HR dept. I WILL SCREAM if that is so and I will not mail in my property tax this weekend
Mr Pincence, once that place becomes dorms those students willprobably not be renting out too many more private apts.
You know what isnt being said here is that by virtue of being a non profit, they can out bid a for profit company because the 35,000 per month property tax nut on that place can be used toward obtaining a larger mortgage on the place which basically subsidizes a higher purchase price. I.e the more one can borrow the more they can afford to pay per month on thier mortgage by virtue of teh fact they are not on the hook for $35,000 monthly property taxes.
That $35,000 will pay off an add'l 3.7M in borrowings over 20 years at 8%.
the various library senior jobs are listed here
http://www.worcpublib.org/about/staffcontacts.html
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