This is what the newspaper in Utah has to say about the issues that we have been discussing for months!
WAKE UP AMERICA - YOU WERE SCREWED!
This feels like Happy Valley... Wait IT STILL IS!
THIS IS WHY WE HAVE TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU! AND WE WILL NEVER STOP! THE PEOPLE OF LEHI, UTAH SHOULD BE MAD AS HELL!
Here is the PC Editorial.... Who even wrote this.. STAND UP AND BE ACCOUNTABLE!
A story out of Lehi is a good reminder for people of any Utah Valley city to keep an eye out for budget hijinks.
The Utah Taxpayers Association recently asserted in a letter that Lehi City did not adequately inform residents when it transferred $4.25 million from its electric utility fund to other funds, including the General Fund, when amending the 2008-2009 budget. The watchdog group cited state law meant to insure that taxpayers and residents know where their money is going.
Failing to notify the public about such budget amendments is like passing a secret budget.
Without trying to sort out all the details of the Lehi situation, we urge officials in all local governments to follow not only the letter of the state law but its spirit as well. The sorting out will be done in coming days. It will touch every city with business enterprise funds because many are doing the same sort of transfers.
Officials may be tempted to try the old shell game of moving funds around too quickly for the naked eye to see. That's just wrong. When people pay an electric bill, they quite rightly expect to be paying for the power they use. They don't expect to be paying for, say, the assistant city controller¹s new office chair, or a literacy center, or anything else that is supported by city enterprise profits.
If enterprises such as electric utilities are running a profit, the proper thing to do is reduce customer rates, not move the money somewhere else. If other programs need support, ask the community to support them. But don't hide the subsidies.
These are tough financial times, to be sure. But that's why its important to let people know all the facts all the time about their money -- and every dime in every public budget is the people's money. Too often officials and politicians forget that.
The Utah Taxpayers Association recently asserted in a letter that Lehi City did not adequately inform residents when it transferred $4.25 million from its electric utility fund to other funds, including the General Fund, when amending the 2008-2009 budget. The watchdog group cited state law meant to insure that taxpayers and residents know where their money is going.
Failing to notify the public about such budget amendments is like passing a secret budget.
Without trying to sort out all the details of the Lehi situation, we urge officials in all local governments to follow not only the letter of the state law but its spirit as well. The sorting out will be done in coming days. It will touch every city with business enterprise funds because many are doing the same sort of transfers.
Officials may be tempted to try the old shell game of moving funds around too quickly for the naked eye to see. That's just wrong. When people pay an electric bill, they quite rightly expect to be paying for the power they use. They don't expect to be paying for, say, the assistant city controller¹s new office chair, or a literacy center, or anything else that is supported by city enterprise profits.
If enterprises such as electric utilities are running a profit, the proper thing to do is reduce customer rates, not move the money somewhere else. If other programs need support, ask the community to support them. But don't hide the subsidies.
These are tough financial times, to be sure. But that's why its important to let people know all the facts all the time about their money -- and every dime in every public budget is the people's money. Too often officials and politicians forget that.
No comments:
Post a Comment