Undisclosed deal details

November 30, 2017

The city is entertaining entering into a relationship with some private developers to facilitate the building of a high rise hotel/apartment/parking building in downtown.

This document (caution big but worth looking at)  downtownhighrise was posted as backup material to a recent agenda item relating to the project.

Take a few moments to browse through the pdf.

It would be interesting to compute the percentage of the material that was redacted compared to what was disclosed.  The stated reason for the redaction is that the information is proprietary.  I can see how dollar amounts and approaches might be, but a lot of those pages are not proprietary.

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

A $5 bus ride for 23 cents

November 29, 2017

The sun metro chart we posted the other day covers up a real problem.

The chart shows that 13,766,000 passengers rode the buses in fiscal year 2017.

It also shows the cost per trip at $3.41.

Most of sun metro’s funding comes from sales taxes.  They get one half of a percent of a taxable sale which they projected to come to $ 43,824,530 for fiscal year 2017.    In 2017 they also expected to get $3,100,000 from riders.

The city’s 2018 budget states that the 2017 sun metro total budget was $69,846,055.

Predictably  they expected to spend every penny that they got.

So with 13,766,000 passengers and $69,846,055  in spending the cost per trip really is $5.07 not $3.41.

They will probably try to tell us that the $3.41 is the incremental cost of each trip, the other money is used to pay the out of town firm that runs sun metro and to pay for offices and other things.

At the end of the day though the cost per trip is $5.07.

With 13,766,000 riders and $3,100,000 in income from the riders we learn that on average each rider is paying 22.5 cents.

Even after basically giving away their service they are losing customers.

Isn’t it time to rethink this situation?

If we need a bus service to help lower income people, can’t we deliver the service more efficiently?

We deserve better

Brutus

 

7 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Back in the district attorney’s court

November 28, 2017

Two of our community bloggers have been trading pot shots about various things including the apparent open meetings violations committed by a current and former members of city council.  See Texas Rangers.

Now according to the Lionstar blog:

Well that allegedly fake investigation by the Texas Rangers was concluded and turned over to the District Attorneys Office.

Now it is up to our district attorney.

One can argue that the DA  was right to stay out of the school prosecutions since they were being handled at the federal level.

This issue however is clearly a local one.  The public deserves prompt action from the district attorney.  He should either prosecute the case or let us know why he will not.

We deserve better

Brutus

3 Comments | City government, County Government, Federal Government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Children’s hospital continues to lose money

November 27, 2017

We now have further evidence that the group that promised us that the children’s hospital would not cost taxpayers any money were wrong.

Our former county judge was a leader of this group.  Now it appears that she wants to run for our United States congress.

The children’s hospital continues to lose money.

For the three months ended June, 2017 they lost another $3.6 million.  If that continues the annual loss would be $14.4 million.

The children’s hospital does have a new chief executive officer.

We can only hope that she can lessen the losses.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

9 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Walletectomy

November 26, 2017

A loyal reader sent in this note the other day:

My doctor’s office charged me $5 today to refill a prescription – meds that I need. Have you ever heard of such a thing? They will make $35 off of me each month. $420 for the year.

4 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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