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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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| New bill for 08/12/2011 to 09/13/2011 for ONE UNIT went to $51.42 from $38.09, a
35 percent
increase! Must be true that average family's will top $111.00 as someone stated to city council at an open meeting. |
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Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:08 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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My bill was $121.55 & a neighbor got one for $140.00
If we eat less so we can pay the bill, it'll mean less flushing & that could lower the bill a bit. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:27 pm |
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Crowfeeder
F L I N T O I D
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If it's Yellow let it Mellow..
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Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:55 pm |
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Dave Starr
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Does this explain the water rate increases?
Flint using water, sewer funds for grant-funded Smith Village housing project
Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 1:45 PM Updated: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 3:18 PM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
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SMITH VILLAGE.JPGView full sizeRyan Garza | The Flint JournalWorkers from S.L. Walker & Sons LLC work on clearing trees and stumps out of a lot at the corner of Williams and Root Streets in Flint in September 2011 as part of the process for starting the new Smith Village neighborhood.
FLINT, Michigan — The city of Flint is dipping into its cash-strapped water and sewer funds for the Smith Village housing development, even though about $16 million in federal stimulus grants were earmarked for the project.
The Flint City Council this week approved spending $767,000 for water main work and tap-in fees for the first wave of houses that are expected to be built before the new year.
The city using water and sewer funds because it doesn’t have enough grant funding to cover all the infrastructure work, City Administrator Gregory Eason told council members this week.
That didn’t sit well with several council members, including Councilman Scott Kincaid, who said he supports the project, but doesn’t think the city should be responsible for connecting the houses to the water and sewer system — an expense property owners usually cover.
“There should have been something in that (grant) money to compensate us,” Kincaid said. “I just want to make sure we’re using grant dollars whenever possible.”
Flint residents this month were hit with a 35 percent increase in their water and sewer rates. The rate hike was due to a number of factors, including Detroit raising its rates to the city and decreased fund balances in the water and sewer accounts.
Councilman Joshua Freeman said using the water and sewer funds is a “hard pill to swallow” for residents and said he hopes the city won’t be dipping into the funds again.
“That well’s dry,” he said. “There’s nothing there.”
Eason said that if the city hadn’t had “hundreds of thousands” of grant dollars withheld by the federal government because of past mistakes, the city would have had enough to cover the tap-in fees.
Eason didn’t specify how much of the stimulus dollars were disallowed and the Flint Journal was unable to reach him for comment Thursday.
He said if the city doesn’t finish the project, it would have to repay the $1.3 million the city spent on the project a decade ago.
“We have this opportunity now and we want to take advantage of it,” he told council members.
The council approved Diponio Contracting of Shelby Township for the infrastructure work. The company was the lowest of four bidders.
Councilman Bernard Lawler said the Smith Village project would be a great asset to the city.
Completing the development would help “right the wrongs” of the past, he said, referring to 13 years ago when the city started the project but never completed it to federal standards.
“We need some successes for this city. We need some wins for this city,” he said. “I don’t think we have a choice but to bite the bullet and move forward.”
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ic23b
ic23b September 29, 2011 at 3:34PM
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Incredible waste of money, not just Federal money but now City money. With leadership like his there is no wonder why Flint is broke. Another slap in the face to the citizens of Flint.
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1baddude
1baddude September 29, 2011 at 3:42PM
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Get the money from the Concerned Pastor's
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shirlsz
shirlsz September 29, 2011 at 3:46PM
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Everyone in Flint should pay their water bill and deduct the increase! This mayor needs to go!
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bearking55
bearking55 September 29, 2011 at 4:13PM
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City is full of EMPTY Houses yet we force the few taxpayers left to pay to build more houses.
and I sure feel good about having paid my own tap in fee now that I see I'm being forced to pay these rich developers tap in fees for them too!
and WHY does the City's Water Sewer fund have almost a MILLION Extra dollars to give them?????? JUSTIFY YOUR RATES NOW!
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mistersmith158
Man Up September 29, 2011 at 5:21PM
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WOW what a joke of a move by Flint. This seems to be another story that highlights the misuse of funds that the city gets and spends. 16 Million $s earmarked for this project, and the city has blown it where? I agree with Mr. Kincaid, and his is 100% right that the new homeowners or the developer should pay these costs. Its a direct benefit to them; not all the rest of the city. It smells like a loser project anyway; slash money pit. I thought the size and population of Flint was contracting? Where are these new home buyers coming from in this down depressed economy? Anyone know how cheap you can buy an existing home for? Less than you can build one new! You do the math shoppers.
Oh and feel bad about the hard luck story from city administrator Eason; we would have had the money if we had not got caught making "mistakes." That is a classic quote that should live in Flint infamy.
Flint you are hostages now, as if you don't spend $767,000 now, you will be on the hook for $1.3 million misspent already in years past. Hey lets taut the fact that it has only taken 13 years to get this project done; hold your head high down there city council; bravo!! Councilman Lawler you are really on some crazy Koolaid if you think that you can attache the work "success" to this whole mess in any way.
I read this horrible article, and it even hard to get my head around the facts here. $16 millions was already spent? 1.3 million at risk from??? $767,000 now being added to what total? What and where was all the money spent? I see in the Smith Village website that the original plan was 169 homes, but as of May 2011 is slated for 83 homes. If the 16 million is infrastructure improvements only, that comes to $192,771 per house that Flint paid to sell a house there. The houses there are now advertised to be between $69,900 and $89,900 per house. Now my math skills tells meet that is a Gross profit to the builder of only $7,387,000, and that will likely make a pre-tax profit to them of $3.3million or so. Anyone gathering all these facts in their head yet? YOU taxpayer paid almost double the gross profit to the developer, so they could make a few million dollars. They take no risk and get all the profit. Now to top it all off, they want you to give them sewer and water services to all the houses to the tune of $9240 per house. I just simply took the $767,000 and divided it by 83. This all sounds so bizarre that I am not sure why there is no federal or state criminal investigations going on into this scam. Bend over Flint you're taking it again apparently.
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DWCBOB
DWCBOB September 29, 2011 at 5:53PM
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Did they dump the leaves upwind of downtown to cover up the stench coming out of city hall? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:57 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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No it doesn't fully explain the water rate increases.
I have to agree with the comment, "This all sounds so bizarre that I am not sure why there is no federal or state criminal investigations going on into this scam." Only I wouldn't be so sure there isn't a criminal investigation going on about this, and other city subjects. I hope there are, and sooner rather than later.
Two exhorbitant increases in water and sewer rates in the past year, and then using water and sewer funds for other than intended purposes (oh, and by the way, have all the judgments against the water and sewer funds been paid in full yet?), and these funds are paying for a project that's supposed to be funded by a grant stinks to high heaven of fraud on multiple levels! There is nothing that justifies such a misuse of funds. And the perpetrators should be removed from their positions. Any replacement personnel should be certified and qualified to fill the position. All city accounts should be audited, too.
It's too bad some city council members are so gullible they will approve anything Eason says.
On a smaller scale, it makes me think of a poor person who comes into some money and immediately goes out and buys an overpriced used vehicle only to find it needs repairs they don't have any money left to pay for. And the other delinquent bills they didn't pay with the bonus are so far behind they have to file bankruptcy and they lose the vehicle and everything else anyway. So much for the nice sum of money they could have done so much more with. |
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Thu Sep 29, 2011 6:15 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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HUD refused to expend any money on the project until the City showed they were working in Smith Village, When the contractors went to HUD about not getting paid, they were told to contact MSHDA as the State of Michigan was the pass through for the federal money. Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) money was applied for by the states who then gave distributed the money. Flint and Genesee County was part of the State of Michigan consortium that received a record amount of money and MSHDA is the agency responsible for overseeing the spending of the money.
MSHDA has had an embedded staff person through Capital Access placed in DCED and may have added a second person. The State of Michigan is responsible to HUD for any misspent money by Flint, especially that caused by a lack of monitoring by the state..
Complaints made to the OIG are not being aggressively acted on despite numerous violations of HUD rules.
Obama and the Federal government need the Stimulus and Recovery plans to succeed. Federal monitors under the Clinton administration were told to leave certain democratic mayors alone. Is now any different? Could walling be using his democratic friends to cover up their misdeeds?
Some are speculating that this contract for excavating may have a built in cushion to help pay the contracts that have been left unpaid? Watch the invoices. |
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Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:54 am |
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