Water Street Project update and it's not good

As with anything on a balance sheet these days, the Water Street property has taken a nosedive value wise vs what the city has and it paying on it.

According to the Ann Arbor News, the property is worth between 7-11 million US cash dollars. The city on the other hand has spent around 23 million US cash dollars on the property. The value and the property itself will be on the Ypsilanti City Council's agenda tonight. Rumors say some are interested in it. That would be delightful but we're not holding our breath. Besides, nobody is going to pay 23 million for it so Farmer's Folly will for quite a while be a blight on city finances.

Show up, be heard: tonight's meeting is at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1 S. Huron St.

Water Street Project lurches forward, ever so slightly

The Ypsilanti City Council has hired C.B. Richard Elllis for the sum of $56,000 to do a feasibility study AND market the project nationally to see if a developer can be found.

Brian Robb, D-3, and stickler for saving tax dollars for residents, did not think yet another study was warranted:

"It's like we're throwing money away, and they are going to tell us we need mixed development."

We tend to agree with Brian on this. How many studies are we gonna pay for all telling us the same thing? Granted, the last study done was in 2001 but let's just say the site hasn't changed in size or style. It's still there.

Why should this concern you? It's big money right now being siphoned out of your pockets with more, much more to come. The Ann Arbor News has more:

The city has changed the focus of the project from residential to a mixed use of residential and commercial. The city has spent about $23.5 million on the project so far, money that came from loans, bonds and grants. Loans, bonds and refinancing cost about $15.7 million and will cost the city about $15.6 million in interest that will have to be paid by 2031. The total cost to taxpayers is about $31.4 million.

Ypsilanti City Council passes $14 million dollar budget

The Ypsi City Council passed next year's budget last night, fully funding AATA bus service into and out of the city with cuts in many other places. There were "layoffs' associated with the budget however none of these positions has anyone in them now so it's more of an elimination of the postion.

The millage will be increased 1.02 mills which will be used to pay for pensions for police officers and firefighters and street improvement loans. It amounts to an increase of 100 bucks for every $200K in your home's market value.

Lois Richardson D-1, um, where were you?

The City of Ypsilanti just had a pretty big vote ya might have heard. The City Council voted 4-1 to approve $274,000 to pay AATA in full for the 7 routes in an out of Ypsilanti that service 578,000 people each year, getting to and coming home from work, going shopping or other errands. Now, Brian Robb D-2 felt the city should have held out and seen what AATA was going to ask for first before committing that much money. We disagre with him on this and want the busses funded fully BUT he makes a good point, a very defensible point and one that who knows, um, Trudy Swanson and Lois Richardson could have chimed in on. But they were nowhere to be found. Now we're SURE they'd both have a good excuse for not being at one of the more important City Council meetings this year and giving the 1st Ward NO REPRESENTATION on this vote. Basically the 1st Ward had no say on this topic.

If it were us and we lived in the 1st Ward, we'd be on the phone right now finding out why they weren't there and what was so pressing they would both miss the vote.

Betcha Megan Turf wonders why too.

EDITORS NOTE--We were informed by Brian Robb that Trudy Swanson is recovering in the hospital and has a fine excuse and thusly we took her name off the headline.

We wish Trudy Swanson the fastest recovery

Don't forget the School Board elections this upcoming Tuesday May 6th

Update and our first big OUR BAD--School Board elections. We STILL mean what we said about those running for office, that hasn't changed but thanks to anonymous for the update!! So here's the millage wording:
Ypsilanti Public Schools - Proposal
OPERATING MILLAGE PROPOSAL

This proposal will enable the school district to levy the statutory rate of 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance.

Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, in the School District of Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan, be increased by 2 mills ($2.00 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 6 years, 2008 to 2013, inclusive, to provide funds for operating purposes; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2008 is approximately $420,066 (this millage is to restore millage lost as a result of the reduction required by the Michigan Constitution of 1963 and will be levied only to the extent necessary to restore that reduction)?

__ YES
__ NO
____________________

The polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm.

Now, for the bad news. There is only one competitive race, that being in the third ward, the others are running unopposed.

1st Ward-Lois Richardson, the Southside Pope is running unopposed for her second four year term. We'd like to see Lois take a broader view of city issues and not simply worry about Ward 1.

2nd Ward-John Gawlas is also running unopposed for his third 4 year term. Hey John, two terms under your belt, another on the way, we're holding you accountable in a BIG way.

3rd Ward-Brian Filipiak will be running against Ted Windish. If you win Brian, we're gonna expect more from you too. Anybody in their second 4 year term needs to produce results. If Mr. Windish wins we'll give him some time to get his feet wet but these days voters in Ypsilanti expect things to get done yesterday.

We make no endorsements one way or another. Down the road this will ensure we're not backing someone at the expense of another Ypsi citizen. We will call out anyone not doing a great job. You can't do that after endorsing someone. We don't play "We know we supported them but..."

We also hope there aren't a lot of 'victory' parties around town on election night. Too much damned work to do to lose ANY time. OUR victory party will be the day the busses are paid for, the police and fire are paid for, the River Street debacle is sold or handed off, that crushing bond paid off and we've attracted some new jobs to our fair city.

Dear Ypsilanti City Council---you sure blew that one

Tabling the truancy ordinance? How hard is it to understand? Was it not explained properly to you? Are you having trouble grasping that fact we NEED to have kids in school between 9-3:30 and yes there SHOULD be penalties, STIFF penalties for those who simply won't follow the rules?

Ypsilanti residents don't ask a lot out of our city council, we're a fairly live and let live bunch but with all the crime going on as the economy bottoms out, should we also have to worry about teenagers causing mischief of worse when you could simply hold their parents accountable? DO SOMETHING and tabling the issue is NOT what you should have done.

Lois Richardson, D-1, felt that a fine could be bad for parents. Uh, Lois, that's the damned point. If it's voluntary or has no teeth why even bother? Each and every city council member who voted to kick this down the road let down the very city residents you are paid to look after. That would be ALL Of them except William Nickels, D-2, who did the RIGHT thing in not voting for the delay.

Stop mollycoddling truant teenagers, stop mollycoddling inept or uninformed parents, stop worrying about each and every person being notified, just do it and stop being so soft on something that requires some teeth.

Simply gutless...

Here now, the three year framework of how Ypsilanti starts to cut back

With the budget woes facing our fair city, City Manager Ed Koryzno has been busy drawing up a framework of cutbacks, changes and black magic. A quick look at some proposed changes:

*Police: Reduce police staffing from five to four per shift, participate in a regional police authority, freeze four jobs in the department and reduce lobby hours to allow officers to spend more time on road patrol.

*Fire: Keep three firefighter jobs vacant, contract out fire marshal duties and participate in a fire district with the city of Ann Arbor.

*Public works: Eliminate the parks department, allow residents to maintain small parks or sell some of them and freeze three vacancies in the department.

*Planning and community development: Reduce staffing from three to two, contract out major planning and zoning tasks, prioritize ordinance enforcement to maintain healthy neighborhoods and reduce services to the Historic District Commission.

And the BIGGEST possible cutback that everyone will want to know about, the Bus Service funds.

*The AATA has been subsidizing half of the cost. The authority could stop funding bus service in the city next year, and Ypsilanti would have to pay the entire cost. No final decisions have been made on this or any of the other possible cuts.

YCD Realizes we HAVE to keep the busses running in and out of Ypsi. We'd also not ever like to consider the Parks Department SELLING any of OUR city treasures. Johnny once said woe be to the City Council person dumb enough to sign off on that. If he ever sees "Frog Island presented by Olive Garden" he's gonna drag some council members to the banks of the Huron River for a 'come to Jesus' meeting. Dick Cheney will be invited as an official witness to make sure it's being done right.

Keep the busses, keep the parks (yes WE can mow them) and past that it sounds good thus far.

UPDATE: Paul Schreiber reminds us that Mr. Koryzno is following the lead of Ypsi City Council. We apologize for any misunderstanding.

Suddenly the city of Ypsilanti finds an extra $1.3 million

An audit of City of Ypsilanti finances shows an extra 1.3 million dollars on the books.

David Helisek of Plante and Moran, the firm that audited the city, said every department in the city contributed to the savings. "You're living within your budget," he told the council last week.

Now the YCD knows the money isn't some magic amount that's going to bail the city out of long term issues we all face but it does make one wonder about the 'wolf is at the door' stories peddled by CERTAIN groups before the city income tax vote. They didn't know of the extra 1.3 million on the books at the time but still, scare tactics for scare tactics sake SURE LOOK BAD when news like this makes itself apparent even after the fact. Makes you wonder how believeable these same folks will be in the future when lending their names to other issues. YCD thinks not too credible.

So, there is an extra $1.3 million in the bank, it won't last too long as other things need to get paid off but it's still good to have.

Ypsilanti, you are to be congratulated

HIGH voter turnout over an issue that affects everyone is a GOOD sign. Yes, your side may have lost the vote but the important thing is so many made their voices heard.

30% is the number being bantied about for % of registered voters voting. The A2 News had this to say:

The turnout for Tuesday's election was the highest in years for a single-issue election in Ypsilanti.

YCD will have the city tax votes results FIRST, ok...

Probably not first. Probably not second either. Rest assured citizens we WILL print the results as soon as we get around to it. Most likely.

"You'll get one number and one number only cause I'm a lazy bastard" --Johnny Rotten at Winterland just before the Sex Pistols played their last live SONG together

Make sure you VOTE tomorrow on City Income Tax

Make sure your voice is heard tomorrow Ypsilanti, get out and vote, yes or no it's up to you but let's get a lot of us to the polls tomorrow so the final vote will indeed be a plurality of this city's voice.

YCD is against a city income tax ONLY because of how this one is worded (we have other issues but those are not germaine to this particular post) giving tax rebates to homeowners but giving renters less than ZERO. It's either shared sacrifice or it's not. Simple really.

Either way you plan to vote make sure your point of view is heard.

Next week's ballot proposal language

Here is how the wording of the City Income Tax proposal will read. You then need to decide if you want to vote yes FOR the tax or no AGAINST the tax.

•Imposes an annual rate of income tax of 1 percent annually on corporations and residents, and 0.5 percent annually on nonresidents who are employed in the city.
•Allows a $1,000 exemption for each individual and dependent with additional cumulative exemptions for individuals over age 65 and for individuals with qualifying disabilities.
•Exempts income from pensions, Social Security, annuities, disability payments and other qualifying sources of income
•Becomes effective July 1, 2008, and expires July 1, 2014.

The vote is next Tuesday November 6th

Funny, we didn't see this in the flyer

YCD received a flyer over the weekend dealing with the proposed city income tax. It was signed off on by many current and former city officials and past mayors. They listed all the reasons this new income tax was needed. Sure they were very vague in explaining the particulars but they did list why they needed this new tax. One thing YCD did not read in the flyers was this:

Businesses will pay a 1% tax on PROFITS. So not only will you and your employees pay on your earnings but your business will pay on the profit you turn.

Funny the pro-tax group never seems to mention this.

YCD knows why, they just wish this new tax increase proposal wasn't simply a give back to home owners and a slap to renters, 67% of our fair city.

The more we learn the more hinky this proposal seems.

YCD might erven be able to support a tax that has ZERO givebacks to anyone, a simple one size fits all tax with no special provisions for some and not others.

We will not be voting on one like that in a couple weeks, sadly.

Renters and the proposed city income tax

According to the US Census, 67% of Ypsilanti's housing units are occupied by RENTERS (This number in Ann Arbor is 56%). That's a sizeable majority, no?

So when the city puts forth a plan to raise a levy on city residents and offers a tax cut for HOMEOWNERS to make it more palatable, that leaves the majority of Ypsilanti residents holding the bag. Renters get NOTHING out of this deal but a raise in income tax AND most likely a raise in their rent. Who proposed that only homeowners get such a break? Why not throw something in for renters, some kind of credit maybe?

Wanna know why? The city council proposing this aren't renters is the YCD guess. The city council really doesn't think the renters deserve much and they also think they're transient in nature so they won't be around for the next election.

Look, do your own research on this, look at the numbers and listen to both sides of this issue. Learn the good and the bad and make up your own mind but it sure looks to the YCD that there is ZERO benefit to renters to vote for any city income tax in it's current capacity.

Let's talk trash

OK, belt tightening and suck it up time are here. The Ypsi City Council is cutting back certain yard services and trash pickups. No more free curbside wood chipping (teach the kids to whittle). Leaf pickup will be once a year so on street parking will come with a city leased leaf-blower-instant-parking-space-maker. Don't blast leaves on kids who are whittling.

Yes it bites and chews but it'll save $429,000 clams over the course of the seven year deal signed with Romulus based Waste Management. Ypsi City Desk says they did what they had to do with this vote HOWEVER the first wood chipper I hear wake me up at 7:30 in my neighborhood and Johnny's coming out with a camera and the YCD Action News Team.