Almost a year into their terms, the current Bossier City Council members that promised fiscal prudence and reform look set to deliver a heaping dosage of it in their meeting this week.
A couple of holdovers and four new members who took office last Jul. 1 came in with stated agendas of making more prudent spending decisions and better fiscal management than the predecessor majority. That has happened in bits and pieces, such as reducing free riding by large apartment complexes on water and sewerage fees and in refinancing bond deals. However, this week’s agenda features the broadest range of reform yet at the same time signals where more work can be done.
One item echoes previous efforts with the extension of a refinancing strategy for older bonds. An ordinance will extend the ability of the city to use a $15 million bond issuance in 2021 originally intended to pare down an issue connected to past public works projects (principally the Walter O. Bigby Carriageway, whose account has been spent in totality) to another active bond series. Essentially, the city will take advantage of differential interest due – the additional series had small payments early but these will increase substantially the closer it gets to its 2036 due date – between old and new issue to save roughly $850,000 annually.
The other two items incorporate other tactics of fiscal prudence. The Council wants to create a fund for capital expenditures in the future on the premise that building a new data center just out of town (but to use city utilities) will bring a significant boost in sales tax collections. The ordinance specifies that 0.5 percent – presently over $300,000 annually – be sequestered during the amount of time to build the center or until the end of 2031, whichever comes sooner. That money with interest then could go to capital outlay.
The other increases the city’s financial cushion. By ordinance, the city’s general fund balance can’t fall below 15 percent of its budgeted expenses. This change would boost that number to 25 percent (the latest budget has a figure of around 75 percent). In other words, this would place the city on more solid financial footing, which should help in matters such as credit issuance.
There’s still room for improvement. The bond refunding specifies the city’s long-time bond attorneys for the job, rather than bidding out the work, although that is something some councilors have said they wish to change soon with open bidding on future work. And another agenda item backtracks to a certain extent: the city’s penchant lending out its parks and recreation facilities that potentially lock out the public from using their recreational assets. This ordinance would allow the Red River FC soccer club exclusive use of Tinsley Athletic Complex’s field at certain hours for games for a span from late May through early July (apparently, already being done without the contract), in exchange for holding one youth soccer camp and a free entry youth sports night apparently already held. The city also will supply hydration during the games.
The intent may be good. However, this also serves as a reminder that the city needs to review its existing recreation deals, where politically-connected groups have received favorable treatment and even entire infrastructure gifts in the recent past, or have witnessed spending delivering dubious value for the entire citizenry, and that it should work to align better citizen desires with service delivery.
Still, the approach is light years ahead of where the Council was a year ago and certainly compared to the first year of the past term. The Council majority appears on the right track in fulfilling its campaign pledges.
No comments:
Post a Comment