I'm not sure Leucadians should take this personally. Most of the city's general fund goes to staff and contracts and services. About $3 million a year goes to paying off the city's debt. In most years, the city only has about a million bucks a year of general funds money for capital improvements. That is not a lot; the budget is certainly not overflowing.In the draft budget the city made some minor reductions to the Community Grants and Mainstreet Association subsidies. DEMA's budget was cut by $4,000, for example.
The Coast News Reported this exchange between DEMA representative Doug Long and Dan Dalager. Doug and Dan are good friends.
However, some groups were resistant to the reduction in spending. Doug Long, president of the Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association, said he opposes the city’s plan to cut its contribution to the organization by 10 percent.The budget document has been revised since then. Although the council did not direct it (in open session), the revised budget pours more money into the Hall property park. The finance department was able to find an additional $150k in each of the next two years. More money was not located for the Leucadia streetscape.
While the council acknowledged the good work that the group does for the city, Deputy Mayor Dan Dalager said the $4,000 cut was necessary. He said the group would have to “share the pain” but volunteered to help out at fundraisers.
Revised Hall Park Budget
First Draft Hall Park BudgetThe approval of the budget is on Wednesday's agenda.
See Also: Leucadia Gets Budgeted.
UPDATE: The found money for the Hall park came from additional errors in the budget documents. Here is a note on other errors in the budget.
Note: Hall park operations costs have been removed from the budget.
Leucadia,
ReplyDeleteYou stuckup hippy surfer snobs.
Pay your taxes and shut up. We will tell you how we will spend your tax money like on my pension. Get over it losers.
I am so glad Dan Dalager voted for a 14% pay increase and a huge pension increase for himself and every person at City Hall last year.
ReplyDeleteWould that have an affect on our budget for community projects?
One step at a time: Let's set a vision and then we'll focus on funding it.
ReplyDeleteaj wants Leucadia to stay junky. It won't take 6 years to get a vision unless we decide it doesn't matter how long it takes.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not into junky. I'm into roundabouts and flowers. Lots of 'em. I'm also into coming up with a plan that will make the L101 corridor a destination, not a place to pass through. The fight for funding of the plan will be a challenge, but the matter at hand is to establish the plan.
ReplyDeleteHey aj give your plan to the bozo planning commissioners. if it screws up the community, they will vote for it.
ReplyDeleteA vision should come first and it should be clearly articulated and justified. I've promoted that principle on more than this occasion, but without funding, the vision goes nowhere.
ReplyDeleteThe budget lays out funding for capital improvements for the next 6 years and that is budgeting with what are probably hopeful assumptions about the economy.
The budget tells us if we are dreamers or doers.
I've also been hoping to see more people get involved in the budget and make sure there is room in the budget for their future vision of Encinitas. My perspective is that the council over the last 10 years has allowed the budget to get really tight.
It is important that people get involved in the visioning and in the funding process. It is important to ask the council to leave enough room in the general fund for projects that make Encinitas an even better place to live.
Hail Kevin!
ReplyDeleteCurrently 90% of our budget goes to huge staff costs including ridiculous pensions. Council should put a cap on Staff and overhead costs. 20% to 30% of the budget should go to community projects.
The problem our Council are clueless about business and let the staff lead the finances.
To solve the problem, we need to elect smarter council members not Gommer Pyle who reminisces about his good old pot smoking days every chance he gets to talk.
I was going to raise my house once, but the city and the landlord found out. How was I supposed to know Homehoist.com would park their jacks on Hermes the same day I pay the rent?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the city charged them to do that? Hope they blog on to let us know.
All the city did was to bring the estimated cost of the Hall property park in different parts of the budget in alignment with each other.
ReplyDeleteOrginally the Phase I project cost in the capital project section (7-2) was $20,500,000. In the Summary of Capital Improvement Program (Black Binder) Attachment F (Item J1-40) the estimate is $21,675,000.
Oops! A little matter of a million dollars. Now the amounts agree. Don't worry. The money can be squeezed out of the SDWD, CSD, and ESD. Notice that the fees in all these districts are being raised. Ouch!
Who will run against Dalager in 2010? We need to begin the campaign now!
ReplyDeleteIs it illegal for a councilman to take a $100,000 home loan from a developer and not declare the loan?
ReplyDelete8:42
ReplyDeleteGary Murphy?
which councilmember took that loan?
ReplyDeleteIMPEACH DALAGER!
ReplyDeletedalager gets richer roads get bumpier!
stuckup hippy surfer snobs huh - somebody sounds real local....
ReplyDeleteAJ is rational and sounds like a true Leucadian!
ReplyDeleteGary Hannel for Mayor!
ReplyDeleteLeucadianʻs Against Dan Dalager!
ReplyDeleteJoin the cause!
Seriously, cause joined!
ReplyDeleteI'm in.
ReplyDeleteDalager is bad for Encinitas.