- Healthy reserve levels result from eight consecutive years of general fund operating surpluses.
- Eagle Ford natural gas and oil drilling activity has bolstered employment and sales tax growth, which the city expects to continue and Fitch considers reasonable based on recent trends
- The overall debt burden is manageable as growth induced capital pressures have been matched by solid TAV gains and the city's various enterprise funds.
- Laredo's international trade activity has historically fueled strong growth in its property tax base, which increased by a compound annual average of 9% over the five years ending in fiscal 2010.
- While TAV remained flat in fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the city anticipates modest growth in the next several years
- The city consistently outperforms budget expectations, recording a general fund operating surplus in each of the last eight fiscal years.
- In fiscal 2011, the city posted a modest $574,000 net operating surplus, resulting in a large unrestricted general fund balance of $34.7 million (equal to 23% of spending), exceeding the 15% fund balance requirement
- the general fund is projected to add $1.6 million to fund balance in fiscal 2012
So the City of Laredo wants to make improvements in the Solid Waste Dept., and for that they want to raise fees by 100 percent. I don't see how those fee hikes are justified when I read words like "large unrestricted general fund balance," and "TAV gains."
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