Legacy Fund ideal source to tap for water lines
Last week, a few other councilmen and I were briefed on the city’s deteriorating water utility infrastructure. The report of failing water mains and the need to replace miles of water lines were nothing new. Anyone who had accidentally caught a glimpse of pictures in the newspaper or on the evening news would have been aware of as much. What was new to the councilmen was the coming request for a water rate increase of more than 30 percent over a five-year period in roughly 6 percent annual increments.
It’s no surprise that the cost of water is going up. That seems to be the way of life under a central banking regime – prices rise over time. But 30 percent in five years, seemingly to address what has become a rolling emergency situation at the city utility? That is a little hard to swallow.
Over the past few years, City Council has approved a wheel tax, an income tax increase, a sewer rate increase and a stormwater rate increase. All this after the public safety and property tax relief credit and local income taxes were created in 2013. We’ve seen our share of rising taxes.
At the same time our elected officials are coming to the public with their hats in hand asking for more and more money, they somehow find a way to increase the amount they spend on “quality of place” and recreational initiatives. The economic development crowd has been successful in securing tens of millions of dollars of tax increment financing, abatements, grants and loans as well as direct public investment in parking garages for these amenities.
In just the two and a half years that I have been on council, I’ve witnessed the public subsidy of at least four private apartment complexes, two hotels, two parking garages, multiple office buildings and a tremendous riverfront promenade (somehow, the taxpayer has managed thus far to dodge the bullet of a new downtown arena).
In the midst of this spending spree and ramping taxes and utility rates, we continue to see more calls for “quality-of-life investments” from the economic gurus at the Greater Fort Wayne Inc., such as the $65 million request for the $220 million Phase One of the GE remodeling (with another $220 million Phase Two to follow).
About $14 million of the $65 million is being asked for from Legacy Fund dollars.
The Legacy Fund has been tapped for contributions to many of these private downtown developments. The fund was created by the sale of a portion of the City Light utility some years ago. It continues to get payments that amount to $2.5 million annually.
Could we not take that cash flow and bond it to pay for our water utility emergency needs rather than hitting up the customers for another $80 a year? We have a precedent for using the Legacy Fund for rainy day moments. The city paid for $2 million in street salt through the Legacy Fund in 2014.
Perhaps this will buy us time to get the city priorities in line and stop the looting of the public purse for private “investors.”
http://journalgazette.net/opinion/columns/20180615/legacy-fund-ideal-sourceto-tap-forwater-lines