We finally have some insight about the departure of our former chief financial officer. Many of us remember her as the deliverer of wildly inaccurate projections, be they revenue or expense related.
Our new city manager’s letter of transmittal of his proposed 2015 city budget begins with discussion that might explain why she left.
“This year’s budget process has been challenging, with lower than expected revenues throughout FY 2014 and a continuing impact into FY 2015.”
Translation: I’m having to clean up a mess from 2014 that will continue to hurt us in 2015.
“To mitigate the impact of the revenue fluctuations and to establish more realistic revenue projections, the FY 2015 revenue budget encompasses a review of the last five years of actual revenue performance, particularly as it relates to property and sales taxes. Revising overly optimistic revenues combined with increasing demands on the expenditure side du to implementation of the Quality of Life (QOL) projects, looming impacts for police and fire collective bargaining negotiations, and maturing economic development incentives make the task even greater.”
Translation: I could not present a budget for next year without facing up to the mess that we are carrying forward. We need to accurately forecast revenue. Last year’s projections were so inaccurate that I had to go back and study the last five years to figure out what to tell you. Now we have to start paying for the QOL projects while we are cleaning up the mess from prior years. Our public safety pension funds are upside down and we might have to face up to that fact this year.
Maybe we will start to see some financial honesty from a city manager, because
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Well, it is so nice that the new City Manager might be honest. However, my belief is that perhaps if we still had a strong Mayor, and a City Council that was willing and able to do their jobs, none of this would have happened! There is no excuse for five (plus) years of inaccurate budgetary information, period! I, for one, am still wondering how our streets have been allowed to deteriorate to this point. And, I cannot resist pointing out that it will very likely end up costing us (the taxpayers) even more to get them back to where they should be because of the neglect of the last ten years.
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Yes, what will the cost be to repair the base course under the asphalt?
Brutus
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What she said: “Revising overly optimistic revenues combined with increasing demands on the expenditure side due to implementation of the Quality of Life (QOL) projects”
What she meant: The true cost of the ballpark greatly exceeds the design and construction cost. They’re just never going to tell you by how much.
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Forecasts were made to fit the policies that derived from the CM and CC doing what they were told to do. I noticed in my tenure there, that there was little accountibility when departments fell short of revenue projections. Then the departments that did forecast accurately saw their budgets emptied to make up for the ones that failed to meet forecast. The new multi-million dollar financial system made things worse as it was implemented by techies who didn’t know crap about departmental business processes in order to integrate these with financials.
It is good that the new CM recognizes this and is taking action to remedy the problem. While there are some very fine departmental managers (e.g., library, parks, general services, purchasing) the internal supporting functions like financial services, HR and IT are lacking. These functions are ripe to be outsourced, IMHO.
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I understand the agenda of this city council and county. There is a big conflict with the ex-CEO of this public corporation, called the City of El Paso, cause she applied to the City Manager position, and didn’t get it. Also, with all the corrupt individuals that have been in place and are still are, there is no way that one city manager can change the illegal shuffling of money between projects, departments and people. There are good, honest people working at the county and city level, but there are top dogs that are nasty and corrupt, and don’t give a shit about anyone below them. The way to treat this, is for a mass of people to expose and refuse to comply to their “color of law” statutes and ordinances. There are no constitutional bases to any law passed by this county and city.
As for a strong mayor and city council. Well, they don’t want to be directly responsible for the corrupt shuffling of money or lack of. The same applies to those criminals in the county city in the courts at all levels, including Veronica Escobar.
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Budget shuffles in response to changing external circumstances are sometimes necessary. But in response to management snafus are not and should be called out. What is inconceivable is to call a $10MM pedestrian bridge to the ballpark wayfinding and then fire the person who calls it what it is.
I doubt a strong mayor will alter that but at least we get a chance to fire him every four years. If Leeser gets a charter vote on the ballot, I wiil be campaigning for it (and begging Joe Wardy to run again).
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Joe Wardy started this whole city manager debacle.
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everyone is bitching but you will still pay your escrow to wells fargo, first light, gecu, etc…… how many of you will protest this on your taxes? none? of course. you bunch of nancies. its inevitable. you will pay your fair share unless you have an old crappy house in need of major updating. bitch all you want, you will still pay. save up asswholes just like i am or move to santa teresa. good luck selling your dilapidated home in this slum anyway.
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Escrow goes up with the rise in taxes. So what’s your point?
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The fuzzy math lady doesn’t deserve all the credit. You forgot about the cartel’s main enforcer, Joycie. She’s like the “Chino Anthrax” of the cartel. For the curious, Google “El Chino Anthrax.”
IN the end, the CFO pulled numbers out of the air and her Victoria Secrets to fit the masters’ nalgas.
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These are weasel words on steroids. It’s simple. They lied about revenues and they lied about expenditures. Any five year old kid with a lemonade stand understands this.
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