budget

Selling and redeveloping city’s Evergreen properties is not financially necessary // Eliot Singer

Three of the EverGreen properties

With a new Council and an apparent willingness to look beyond the DDA for solutions to the Evergreen properties quagmire, I am going to revive my analysis from several years ago that it is not financially imperative to sell and redevelop the city’s Evergreen properties, which were originally bought with the intent of tearing them down and replacing with a massive parking garage.

Recall that the properties were bought 10 years ago for more than 3 times their assessed market value, at a time … Read more →

Fiscal Options for East Lansing // Ron Fisher

I have already commented about the East Lansing tax proposal arguing that the imposition of a City income tax or an increase in the property tax are inherently limited as a solution to the City’s fiscal issues. The main point is that the City is relatively small and surrounded by similar suburban communities with essentially equivalent access to major employers, making it relatively easy for individuals and businesses to select locations outside the City.

The point of this comment is the City has … Read more →

Road Construction, City Income Tax Video, and Business Changes Around Town // Matt Kazmierski

Punk Taco coming to East Lansing

There are a couple of large road construction projects that start today – Monday, June 25 – in East Lansing. The first is a section of N. Hagadorn road, between Haslett and Lake Lansing roads. More details can be found at  http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/construction . The second (long-awaited) project is being done by MDOT on Saginaw Highway between Coolidge and Hagadorn roads. According to a City news release, “The project will include 2.18 miles of hot mix asphalt cold milling and resurfacing, joint repairs, ADA upgrades to … Read more →

Library Lot Ann Arbor vs Lot 1 East Lansing // Eliot Singer

Lot 1, Eat Lansing, pre-development

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/06/ann_arbor_inks_deal_to_sell_do.html

Here’s latest on the controversial sale of the Ann Arbor Library Lot to Core Spaces for $10 million.

The Library Lot is 0.8 acres.

East Lansing Lot 1 was 1.35 acres.

If East Lansing had followed the city charter and asked voters to allow sale of Lot 1 and sold for a comparable per-acre value, the city would have received $16,875,000.

On paper, based on value of the recent sales of the private properties for the Harbor Bay project, Lot 1 would … Read more →

Objective Assessment of Tax Options // Eliot Singer

I will leave it to East Lansing government to explain why it spent $20,000 tax dollars hiring a private consultant to conduct a scientifically worthless survey of tax options, when if it really wanted unfettered public input, it could have gotten that for free by asking neighborhood associations to hold town hall meetings, with members of Council in the audience in their capacity as citizens. Tabulating data when the data is not scientifically obtained is pointless. The first, and most important, thing I learned … Read more →

Opinions from outside of East Lansing // Scott Bame

It’s been over six months since moving from East Lansing. My wife and I have both lost a lot of stress with the move, after it was completed.

When I talk to people I might mention that I just moved from East Lansing.

Most folks wonder what in the heck is going on.

Most agree that East Lansing is in bad shape.

I get the impression that folks are avoiding East Lansing, other than as a cut through to other locations.

Folks aren’t happy … Read more →

Ostrom and O’Regan Granular Enough? (re: Proposals For Budget Reductions) // Sheila Taylor

In their March 7 post, Ostrom and O’Regan called for a granular look at the proposed budget, then made a cost-saving proposal of their own.  I appreciate the considerable work they have done, respect their intentions, and presume many of their suggestions are worth considering (though I suspect that even taken together, they would not fill the financial gap our city faces). I have a problem with their proposal, however, because they misunderstand how the library is funded.

At one time, the city budget included … Read more →

Proposals For Budget Reductions // Kriss Ostrom and Daphne O’Regan

The budget cuts mentioned in City documents rely excessively on cuts to public safety and merely tinker around the edges of other city services and staff reductions at City Hall. Kriss Ostrom and I propose the following cuts to the East Lansing budget. We have both been East Lansing residents for more than thirty years. Daphne served on the East Lansing School Board and on the School Board Finance Committee during several years of intense budget cutting. Kriss was the Head of Circulation in the … Read more →

Financial Crisis and Meadows Still in Denial // Eliot Singer

I hate to talk about this now, given the immediate flood crisis. I hope most of you are managing. This flood is worse than anything in my 35 years in residence in Lansing/East Lansing, and our backed-up sewer problems were not flood related.

I feel compelled to say something after reading the latest on financial crisis in Eli. Avondale Square is not the worst by any means. The building of the new DPW building without a debt millage last time Meadows was mayor is … Read more →

City Financial Crisis: One Last Time, With Feeling // Eliot Singer

I feel a moral obligation to weigh in from afar on East Lansing’s mess, since I was one of the first to call attention to the city’s pending financial crisis and the need for new revenue. I also had carefully analyzed the budget, finding such hidden discrepancies as the DDA not paying fully for downtown maintenance, while it continued to embark on new, discretionary, projects, and huge deficits in self-financing for parking structures. With the help of Vic Loomis, I carefully examined all the … Read more →

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