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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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| We could use Detroit as a back up and drill some wells, Plus there's the resevoir and I've heard even an underground river. |
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Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:00 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Yes the underground river runs through Flint along parts of the fifth ward near Hurley. It also created problems for I believe it was 11th street when it took the road out. It comes close to the surface near Pierson at Flint Park (Devil's lake). |
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Mon Jul 09, 2012 3:58 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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Lawsuit to repeal Flint water rate hike refiled in circuit court
FLINT, MI -- Flint City Council President Scott Kincaid has refiled a lawsuit seeking to repeal Flint's water and sewer rate hike, claiming the increase violated city ordinance.
The latest lawsuit is the second attempt to overturn the rate hike after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled it did not have jurisdiction over some of the issues raised in the first lawsuit.
The new complaint, filed July 3 by Kincaid and three other Flint residents in Genesee County Circuit Court, claims the 35 percent water and sewer rate increase that was imposed in September 2011 violated city ordinance and was not authorized by the Flint City Council.
The lawsuit says the city mingled water and sewer funds with general funds instead of keeping them separate, a finding that was also noted in November by the state-appointed financial review team that recommended an emergency manager take over city operations.
"The rate increases were illegal," said Val Washington, Kincaid's attorney. "(They were) used to pay general obligations rather than restricted obligations."
Washington said the city has filed a response to the lawsuit, asking Circuit Court Judge Richard Yuille to dismiss the case.
Flint City Attorney Peter Bade could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.
Washington said a hearing date has not been set.
Kincaid is seeking an order from the judge to stop the city from collecting on the increase. The lawsuit also seeks damages, as well as a refund to the city's water and sewer customers.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals dismissed a portion of Kincaid's first lawsuit, ruling that the rate hikes did not violate the Michigan Constitution, as alleged in the lawsuit.
Washington said an appeal is planned but has not yet been filed.
Flint water customers have seen a 110-percent increase in their average water and sewer rates since January 2011. Most recently, Flint emergency manager Michael Brown raised rates an average of 25 percent. |
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Adam
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Mysearchisover.com
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FB
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Jobs
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Mon Jul 16, 2012 1:23 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| How much of our water bills go toward the water bubbling up out of the street at Grand Traverse and 10th Ave.? The city was notified 2 months ago, but nothing's been done. |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:36 am |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:54 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Water lost in the pipes is a common phenomena and contributes to higher cost.
Some individuals have calculated the service fees on some bills and say these Flint charges account for as much as 47% of the total bill. The out county does not have these City of Flint fees, which are higher than those of the county billing agencies.
I have spoken to two friends in the Fairfield area, an 84 yr old and her daughter, that recently received a bill for $169. They are learning how to read their own meter as they have had the house inspected and there are no leaks. |
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Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:02 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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New complaint in Flint water rate lawsuit claims service charge violates state law
By Kristin Longley | klongley1@mlive.com
on January 06, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated January 06, 2013 at 7:08 AM
FLINT, MI -- A new complaint in a lawsuit attempting to reverse Flint water rate increases alleges the city's water service charge violates state law.
The lawsuit was filed last year by Flint City Council President Scott Kincaid and three other Flint residents, whose attorney is asking a judge to consider adding the new allegation to the case.
The claim cites a state law that says the retail rate charged to water customers "shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service."
Attorney Val Washington, who is representing Kincaid, said the city is in violation because it doesn't have on file a chart to determine how it calculates the water service charge that appears on customer bills each month.
"If you're a wholesale customer of Flint you cannot charge your retail customers more than the actual cost of the water," he said, adding that a rate chart is supposed to be kept on file in the clerk's office. "That service charge is a made up number."
The water service and sewer service charges are separate from the usage charges on customer bills.
Washington said he asked the city for the chart, but the city didn't produce one. He said the city did, however, have a chart for how it calculates the sewer service charge.
"My position is that (water service) charge is pulled out of the air," he said.
City Attorney Peter Bade has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Bade said the city has not yet been served with Washington's request to amend the lawsuit to add the new complaint. Once it is, the city will file a response with the court, he said.
Flint water customers have seen a 110-percent increase in their average water and sewer rates since January 2011.
Kincaid's water rate lawsuit was originally filed in May in the Michigan Court of Appeals because it alleged the rate increases violated the Michigan Constitution. The suit deals with the two most recent water rate increases, which went into effect in September 2011 and July 2012.
The lawsuit is seeking to reduce water and sewer rates as well as refund Flint water customers for the increased amount they've paid since September 2011.
The appeals court dismissed a portion of the lawsuit that claimed the rate increases violated the Michigan Constitution, and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.
The remaining counts were refiled in Genesee County Circuit Court.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Jan. 14 before Genesee Circuit Court Judge Richard Yuille.
Flint's former emergency manager, Michael Brown, has said the water rate hikes were necessary to keep up with rate increases passed on from Detroit, as well as to cover the growing costs of an aging system that serves a much smaller population than it did in the past.
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Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:25 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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EFM SUBMISSION NO.: 2012 EFM 204
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CHANGE ORDER #1 TO THE $420,938.46 CDBG
SMITH VILLAGE PHASE II INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACT WITH DIPONIO
CONTRACTING, INC., TO EXTEND THE CONTRACT TERM UNTIL NOVEMBER 30,
2013 AND CHANGE THE SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT
BY THE EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGER
The City of Flint is using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds, along with City of Flint resources to fund Phase II infrastructure development for the Smith Village project. Phase I infrastructure was completed using funding from the City Water and Sewer Fund and CDBG.
The City of Flint allocated Community Development Block Grant Funds in its 2011-12 Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan for the Smith Village Infrastructure Project. The City of Flint previously bid out the work and selected DiPonio Contracting, Inc., to construct the infrastructure.
Changes in the project scope eliminated the need for infrastructure south of Williams Street. Accordingly, the scope of the existing CDBG contract (12-093) is revised, effective October 26, 2012, to include the construction of utilities and roads north of Williams Street.
The term of the contract is also extended until November 30, 2013.
IT IS RESOLVED, That Emergency Financial Manager shall, on behalf of the City of Flint, authorize appropriate City of Flint officials to enter into Change Order #1 with DiPonio Contracting, Inc., to extend the contract term until November 30, 2013 and change the scope of the contract, effective October 26, 2012, to include the construction of utilities and roads north of Williams Street.
DATE: December 3, 2012 |
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Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:34 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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After the construction of University Park a former City Engineer and a former Cost Center Manager for DPW told me that the citizens of Flint were never aware of the cost overruns in utilities that occurred during construction. These overruns depleted water and sewer reserves and may have contributed to the huge deficits the city incurred.
Water and Sewer fund reserves are again low. These reserves were used in the past as part of the pooled cash investment funds for the city.
From the above resolution:
"The City of Flint is using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds, along with City of Flint resources to fund Phase II infrastructure development for the Smith Village project. Phase I infrastructure was completed using funding from the City Water and Sewer Fund and CDBG".
Once again the city, under Eason and Walling, used water and sewer funds to address the water and sewer needs of a new project. The city is undergoing repairs to the infrastructure all over the city and many of these areas could have used CDBG funds to repair water and sewer issues. Now more "city resources' and CDBG funds are going to complete the new houses and streets in Phase 2 of Smith Village.
Could this be the cause of the increased service charges? Someone has to pay for repairs all over the city while the city tries to increase the downtown population in the city. The city cares so little about the residents they leave these temporary patches until the erode and become dangerous. |
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Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Meanwhile Flint is unable to afford the full scope of development that Eason and Walling promised HUD. In my opinion, you can blame council for approving these changes and for believing Eason. The project already has cost repayments.
I am told some council are speculating the deficit is rising under the Kurtz and Brown debacle. Is Flint is morally and financially bankrupt? |
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Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:50 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
Is Flint is morally and financially bankrupt?
Yes. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jan 06, 2013 8:21 am |
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Bossman
F L I N T O I D
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Flint Public Safety Administrator Barnett Jones resigns after questioned about second job in Detroit
FLINT, MI -- Flint Public Safety Administrator Barnett Jones resigned today, Jan. 10, after being questioned about a second job working as head of security for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, officials said.
Flint emergency financial manager Ed Kurtz said he met with Jones and City Administrator Michael Brown this morning after they were contacted Wednesday by the Detroit Free Press about Jones' second job in Detroit.
"He was working both jobs and had failed to tell us he was working for somebody else. We didn't know he was working for somebody else," Kurtz said. "We met with him this morning and he voluntarily resigned. He was very apologetic."
Kurtz said Jones submitted a one-line, handwritten letter of resignation.
"I don't know what happened, but he's done really good work for us," Kurtz said. "Needless to say, I'm disappointed."
Jones could not immediately be reached for comment this afternoon.
Jones was hired to both jobs in April, according to records online.
In Flint, he made $135,000 -- a sore spot with some in the community because Flint also has a police chief, Alvern Lock, who declined to comment today on Jones' resignation. Jones salary was paid for with a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation, officials said.
Jones receives another $138,750 from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, according to the Free Press report.
Kurtz said he would describe Jones' Flint job as a full-time position as an adviser to the police and fire departments. He said he did great work for the city, especially on the city's public safety plan.
Kurtz said he doesn't expect his office will do a follow-up examination of Jones time in Flint versus his time in Detroit.
"I don't dispute it -- he claims he was putting in 40 hours here and 40 there through multiple shifts and weekends," Kurtz said. "I have nothing to dispute that."
Despite Jones' resignation, a statement issued this afternoon by Kurtz' office said, "Mr. Jones will still have the option of working for the city as a public safety consultant."
Brown clarified that statement this afternoon, saying Jones is one person who could be considered for a consulting position if the city decides to pursue that route.
"Especially if (Chief Lock) comes to us and says he could use assistance here or there then we would consider a consultant option," Brown said. "(Jones) would be an example of someone we could utilize as a consultant."
Kurtz acknowledged that Jones was working for the Detroit water and sewer department while the city of Flint is in negotiations with the department about a potential contract for future drinking water.
He said Jones was not directly involved in any of the water discussions.
"He certainly attended staff meetings where it was discussed generally," Kurtz said. "It might be more of a perceived conflict than an actual conflict."
From the Free Press report:
"Jones acknowledged some people could be skeptical of his ability to do both jobs simultaneously, but said Wednesday he works hard and is committed to making a difference in both Detroit and Flint.
'I can’t say no to people,' he said." |
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Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:57 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:06 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:07 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint Balances Books at Cost of Services Citizens Need
By Mark Niquette Mar 26, 2013 8:00 PM ET 20 Comments Email Print
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Edward Kurtz, emergency manager of Flint, Michigan, talks with Bloomberg's Mark Niquette about the city's performance under the state's emergency-manager law and the outlook for the community's viability. Flint is among six Michigan cities that have state-appointed fiscal managers with ultimate authority to operate and restructure them, sell assets and alter union contracts. (Source: Bloomberg)
After firing 20 percent of its workers, doubling water rates and outsourcing trash collection, Flint (8985MF), Michigan, has a balanced budget. It’s also approaching the point at which it can’t function as a city.
That’s the assessment of Edward Kurtz, its emergency manager. Without reliable revenue to replace dwindling property and income taxes and state funding, the birthplace of General Motors Co. (GM) won’t be able to support its citizens, even if its books are square, Kurtz said.
As state-appointed overseer Kevyn Orr takes control of near-bankrupt Detroit (9845MF), the experience of Flint shows spending can be made to match revenue. Yet merely making the numbers work may not be enough in cities where population and revenue shriveled with the closing of auto plants.
“How many more employees can we lay off and still provide the basic services?” Kurtz asked in an interview in his office at Flint City Hall. “We can’t just keep putting it on the backs of the people who live in the city. Pretty soon, we won’t have anybody left to tax.”
Kurtz said he doesn’t think Flint, whose population has dropped by almost half to 101,558 since 1960, has reached that point. During the 16 months the city has been under an emergency manager -- its second stint -- work has been done to stabilize finances and restructure operations, even as residents complain about the loss of democratic rights and the city is completing its first master plan since the 1960s.
Concrete Desert
Still, Kurtz wrote in a Feb. 8 report to state Treasurer Andy Dillon that Flint “is approaching the point of diminishing returns” and that “stable revenue is necessary in order for this city, and most other cities in Michigan, to continue to avoid a bankruptcy situation.”
Flint is 68 miles (109 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Buick Motor Co. moved there in 1903, GM was founded there in 1908 and it prospered until the auto industry started to decline in the 1970s. Today, hundreds of acres of bare concrete remain where plants once stood, and neighborhoods are scarred by vacant and boarded-up homes. Almost a quarter of the housing units are vacant, according to the U.S. Census.
For those who remain, life is dangerous. Flint had the highest rate of violent crime in 2011 among U.S. cities with 100,000 or more residents, and Detroit was second, according to the FBI.
Gunfire Lullaby
Flint officers are doing their best with staffing that has declined by more than 50 percent since 2008 as pay and benefit cuts destroyed morale, said Officer Kevin Smith, 37, president of the Flint Police Officers Association.
Some residents say otherwise. Police are “about as useless as a rubber crutch,” said Ben Cain, who leads a Neighborhood Restoration Coalition of block watch groups. He said he’s so used to going to bed with gunfire that he doesn’t pay much attention to it anymore.
Emergency managers can’t fix such deep-rooted dysfunction without changing state and federal policies for funding cities, said U.S. Representative Dan Kildee, a Flint native who co- founded the Center for Community Progress, a Washington-based advocate for land reuse and urban revitalization.
“If we don’t have the will to do those things, then all the strong managers in the world will not pull America’s weakest cities out of their decline,” said Kildee, 54, a first-term Democrat.
Flint is among six Michigan cities that have emergency managers, including Detroit, where Republican Governor Rick Snyder named Orr on March 14. While elected mayors and councils remain, the fiscal overseers have ultimate authority to operate and restructure, sell assets and alter union contracts.
Called Back
This is Flint’s second time around.
Kurtz, a 70-year-old former president of the Baker College system, which is based there, was appointed in 2002 when the city had a $35 million deficit. It had a balanced budget when he left in 2004, yet started running deficits again three years later. Snyder named a new manager in November 2011, and when he couldn’t continue, Kurtz came out of retirement in August.
Kurtz has waived his salary and is being paid only $1,000 a month for expenses, according to the city. The salary would be $170,000 a year, funded by the state under a law taking effect March 28.
Almost 47 percent of Flint’s $94.3 million in revenue in fiscal 2012 came from state and federal sources. While the city still has deficits of $19 million in its general fund and $8.8 million in its water fund, its 2013 budget balanced without deficit spending, and revenue and expenses are generally on target, Kurtz said.
Private Prop
Besides eliminating almost 150 positions, Flint’s managers cut workers’ wages by 20 percent, eliminated retiree health coverage and restructured benefits and pensions. They added a $143 annual fee for trash collection, a $62 special assessment for street lights and increased water and sewer rates.
It’s not enough. Michigan State Police provide patrol officers and detectives, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has given $3.84 million since 2010 for 11 community police officers and neighborhood safety volunteer programs.
It’s a “bridge strategy,” said Neal Hegarty, vice president of programs for the Flint grant-making foundation, which is Michigan’s third-largest and works to better civil society and the environment, and to eradicate poverty.
“The situation was simply untenable, and it needed some relief,” Hegarty said by phone. “There’s just simply not enough money in the system.”
Fleeing Flint
Property taxes declined 44.6 percent between fiscal 2006 and 2012, state funding is down by 32.9 percent and income taxes by 24.5 percent, according to city reports. Property taxes could fall another 18 percent in fiscal 2014, Kurtz said.
“We used to say we need to do more for less,” he said. “Pretty soon we’re going to be doing less for less.”
Cain, who leads the neighborhood group, said residents are being driven out.
“If you keep on cutting the legs off this table, eventually you’re going to be on the floor,” the 65-year-old retired GM worker said in an interview at a police mini-station encircled by barbed-wire fence. “When you kick the dog around long enough, he’s going to leave.”
Hunting Work
While more than 80,000 area residents were employed by GM in 1978, according to a 2011 report by Michigan State University, that number is about 7,500 today, the company said. GM is the city’s largest employer, followed by the Flint City School District and McLaren Regional Medical Center, according to the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Flint’s median household income is $26,621, compared with $48,669 for the state, according to U.S. Census data. The unemployment rate was 17.2 percent in January not adjusted for seasonal changes, compared with an unadjusted 9.7 percent statewide.
The distress is reflected in municipal finances. There are no current bond ratings for Flint, according to its 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Moody’s Investors Service last rated its general-obligation unlimited bonds at noninvestment-grade Ba1 in February 2006, the report said. The long-term debt on June 30 was $62.8 million, it said.
Old promises weigh on the city and others like it. Michigan municipalities had unfunded liabilities for pension and other post-retirement benefits of $12.7 billion in fiscal 2011, Eric Scorsone, a Michigan State University economist, said in a March 14 report. That limits resources for services and can put cities into a “death spiral,” he said.
Bob Emerson, a former state budget director who served on the review team that recommended an emergency manager for Flint in 2011, said that while the city avoided bankruptcy, it faces a difficult future.
“Does anybody want to live there with service levels that are adjusted to the revenue levels?” Emerson said in a telephone interview. “Without sufficient revenue, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Niquette in Flint at mniquette@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net |
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Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:14 am |
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