Mayor Mason’s Budget Surplus: $25.42 million
Mayor Zimmer’s Budget Surplus: $14.72 million
Who’s Right?
Last summer the Zimmer hating website BethMason411 published a story entitled “Hoboken Has A $20 Million Surplus”. Subtitled: “Taxpayers fleeced, massive slush fund uncovered”. The only thing massive was the lie perpetuated by Beth Mason and her website. Beth Mason used the $20 million figure at least 3 times in writing and multiple times verbally. She used the correct figure of $12 million once, verbally. Tim Occhipinti used it in his debate against Michael Lenz. I provided Tim with the data, but he has refused to correct the record. All three were using the 2010 State Fiscal Year Trial Balance-Current Fund (Sheet 3A). That page never once mentioned the magic word “surplus”. This is how liars operate. The correct page is Sheet 21 which is on page 4 of the AFS document link provided below where it clearly states “Cash Surplus”. The correct figure of $11.83 million was stated by Mayor Zimmer and Michael Lenz on multiple occasions.
The original false BethMason411 (aka Hoboken411) story is located at:
HTTP://Hoboken411.com/archives/48290
The State Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Financial Statement (AFS) is at:
http://www.hobokennj.org/docs/businessadmin/FinancialStatementSFY2010.pdf
For reference all Hoboken budget documents are at:
http://www.hobokennj.org/government-finances/
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| How Many times do we have to show this budget figure before Beth Mason and cabal stop repeating their lie on the surplus? |
Just released is the 2010 Transitional Year Financial Statement (TFS). This shows (on the same Sheets listed above) a General Fund Balance of $25.42 million. This is equivalent to the same figure used in the original BethMason411 lie. The correct surplus is now $14.72 million as confirmed to me by Mayor Zimmer. This great news shows how far Hoboken’s finances have come since the dark days of the state takeover.
What should we do with the surplus? While another $2 million or so should be returned to taxpayers and the exact amount is certainly open for debate, we have bills to pay. The waterfront alone has a $20 million price tag. We can probably get 1/3 or so in matching grants, another 1/3 in outright grants and 1/3 from our taxpayers. We should bond for the taxpayer remainder. Unfortunately the Mason/Russo alliance plans to deplete the surplus, starving us of funds for matching grants. More importantly, it will rob us any ability to obtain the “AA” bond rating that Mayor Zimmer knows we need.
Prudence calls for a 5-10% reserve for this rating. Without this, we will be forced to utilize the Hudson County Note Pool program. This only allows us to issue 1 year notes. Long term pier repairs should be financed long term. This is called asset/liability matching. The Mason/Russo cabal has no clue what this is, which is fiscally irresponsible. We need reserves for 3 years of retro pay for 7 unions, health care increases, retiree terminal pay, a state mandated 22% increase in pension costs, the underlying pensions, lawsuit liability and emergencies such as the snow removal we have experienced. These costs were estimated at $8.5 million last year. The question is how much will the "Chicken Hawks" (as opposed to budget hawks) Beth Mason, Terry Castellano, Michael Russo, Nino Giacchi and Tim Occhipinti squander, leading us back to the dark days of one shots and fiscal recklessness, necessitating a tax rise?
The 2010 Transitional Year Financial Statement (TFS) is located at:
http://www.hobokennj.org/docs/businessadmin/FinancialStatementTY2010.pdf
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| The revised budget surplus from the 2010 TFS report now stands at $14.72 million. This is from page 48 from the link on the document above. |
A new auditor will take longer to complete the work. As Peter Cunningham correctly pointed out the auditor chosen by Michael Russo has zero experience in auditing cities. "Chicken Hawk" senior member Terry Castellano showed her financial incompetence with the statement that “numbers are numbers”. I guess if you can fly a Cessna, you can fly a Boeing jumbo jet. Additionally there is the dictatorial reign of Beth Mason who has shut off public speakers, rearranged the order to aid her acolyte/minion Lane Bajardi and decided to reward those who came late to meeting by reversing the order of the public speakers. She has also silenced her colleagues from offering or speaking on ordinances and not allowing Mayor Zimmer to place certain items on the agenda with is her prerogative. This dictatorial reign must come to an end this May.
Please review the attached documents for reference.
This May 10th Hoboken’s political soul and future is at stake. I urge everyone to vote for:
1st Ward: Eric Kurta - A tireless budget watchdog.
2nd Ward: Tom Greaney - A fiscally conservative voice of reason.
3rd Ward: Greg Lincoln - A caring, responsibly involved citizen.
4thWard: Rami Pinchevsky - A true involved 4th Warder, not a phony one.
5th Ward: Peter Cunningham - A real fiscal conservative who is being muzzled by Dictator Beth Mason.
6th Ward: Jennifer Giattino - A person who has supported reformers by working diligently at every opportunity.
Please vote to return sanity to the Mile Square City.
- 2nd Ward Resident
Scott Siegel ◦
