Another financial challenge facing Boulder City every year is the payment of debt. This debt has been incurred over the years. This year’s debt payment amounts to approximately $3.8 million, and will increase each following year. This is a cash flow burden we can no longer afford to leave unaddressed.
Like any family, business or organization, the City has looked carefully at how to make our budget balance. There are options on how to do this. We need to reduce expenses, which we have been doing for many years. We need to increase revenues. This is difficult to do in an ongoing recession. Fortunately, our energy zone leases have provided needed revenue. We also need to eliminate debt, this must be our priority. The ballot questions to be placed on the November ballot by the City Council address debt elimination. A ballot question will ask for the residents to allow land sales around the golf course. This has been put before the voters previously and turned down. We need to support this now to strengthen our finances, otherwise more cuts to our budget will eliminate needed services. With a modest land sale we can reduce our overall debt. This will have both immediate and long-lasting benefits to the financial health of our city. It will allow us to control our financial future and give us the resources we need by freeing us from the burden of debt and allowing us to rebuild prudent funding levels and secure our ongoing essential public services.
Of course a land sale is not a short-term fix, but part of a long-term financial plan to bring back stability to both our General and Utility funds. I encourage all residents to consider carefully these issues in the coming election.
Visit Roger at http://www.bcnv.org/CityCouncil/Tobler.asp. |
