Middletown Budgetary Slight Of Hand??

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   Question #1 - How accurate were senior City staff budget presentations made at last Tuesday's meeting of the City Council and why does the Community Revitalization Department's proposed FY 2010 budget require a 16% cut? 

Answer #1 - HUD funding received by the City is nearly $2.4 million above estimate including:  CDBG +$25,000; HOME +$40,000; NSP-1 +$2,144,000; and CDBG Stimulus +$180,000.  Not included are increased HUD Section 8 Administrative Fees.

Question #2 - Since the City has already received nearly $2.4 million in additional HUD funding, please explain why a 16% Community Revitalization Department budget cut is necessary and why are Debbi Fish and Skip Batten losing their CDBG-funded jobs as of 12/31/2009?

Answer #2 - HUD administrative funding received by the City is nearly $250,000 above estimate.  I also recall Mr. Adkins mentioneing that he has a current shortage of staff.  If so, why would he reduce CDBG-funded positions now?  Not included is the potential receipt of up to $19 million in NSP-2 funding from HUD.  This would provide $1.9 million in new Administrative Fees.

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Nelson R. Self Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: Oct 03 2009 Status: Offline Points: 279	Post Options Post Reply Quote Nelson R. Self Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Middletown Budgetary Slight Of Hand?? Posted: Nov 07 2009 at 8:34am
	Question #1 - How accurate were senior City staff budget presentations made at last Tuesday's meeting of the City Council and why does the Community Revitalization Department's proposed FY 2010 budget require a 16% cut? Answer #1 - HUD funding received by the City is nearly $2.4 million above estimate including: CDBG +$25,000; HOME +$40,000; NSP-1 +$2,144,000; and CDBG Stimulus +$180,000. Not included are increased HUD Section 8 Administrative Fees. Question #2 - Since the City has already received nearly $2.4 million in additional HUD funding, please explain why a 16% Community Revitalization Department budget cut is necessary and why are Debbi Fish and Skip Batten losing their CDBG-funded jobs as of 12/31/2009? Answer #2 - HUD administrative funding received by the City is nearly $250,000 above estimate. I also recall Mr. Adkins mentioneing that he has a current shortage of staff. If so, why would he reduce CDBG-funded positions now? Not included is the potential receipt of up to $19 million in NSP-2 funding from HUD. This would provide $1.9 million in new Administrative Fees.

Hermes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hermes Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 07 2009 at 11:36am
	Sounds like someone is really doing nothing more than juggling numbers and redistributing funds. My question is : by cutting 16% in that area will that drop the total of the incoming funds ? And if the incoming funds remain the same what are the plans for the extra money ? If these people were running a business they would have all been fired by now and the company would be bankrupt.

Vivian Moon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vivian Moon Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 07 2009 at 2:43pm
	Nelson This was an excellent question and answer post. Yep, this is the biggest shell game in town.

Nameless Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Outsider Joined: Sep 03 2009 Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote Nameless Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 07 2009 at 9:42pm
	You guys need to make up your minds what you want... You complain that the money is being wasted on projects that don't benefit the community. Now you are complaining because Mr. Adkins is doing what was asked of ALL city departments which is to cut their budgets. His department is not the only one that is laying people off! If there is less money being used for administrative funding, doesn't this mean that there will be more funds available for all the projects that you all want funded? Is it more important to save these jobs or to complete projects? You all need to make up your minds- you can't have your cake and eat it too when there is a limited amount of money available! You keep harping on the $19 million- it hasn't even been awarded to the city yet! There's a chance they won't get any money! They can't keep staff on the POSSIBILITY that they may get funding!!