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 More misuse of City funds by the council

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Mustang
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Number of posts : 65
Registration date : 2008-07-28

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PostSubject: More misuse of City funds by the council   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeThu Aug 21, 2008 7:22 am

Now we find that the City Council has used $75,000 of the Sanitary Fund's revenues to purchase property for use by the EDA. Although this may not be illegal, it seems that using monies that have been gotten from citizens of Ortonville that should be used for the upkeep, maintenance, and improvement of the sanitary system for other purposes is, at the very least, improper.
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PostSubject: Re: More misuse of City funds by the council   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeFri Aug 22, 2008 9:13 am

When I read your concerns my first question is, Isn't this a violation of State law? Deceiving the taxpayers into a tax for a specific purpose and then using the money for general purposes seems illegal? It is like taxing for Social Security Retirement and using the money for legislators pay raises. It just seems wrong!

My second question is where is our check and balance system? Where is the Ortonville Independent?
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mayorblair
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Registration date : 2008-09-03

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PostSubject: Re: More misuse of City funds by the council   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeWed Sep 03, 2008 10:38 am

The transfer of $75,000 was for the purchase of land so we can try to get development to happen in our city. Without construction of new houses in town to increase our tax base the current citizens just keep paying more and more taxes, and utility charges because costs keep going up and someone has to pay for these increased costs. If it is not new tax base in town it will be the current taxpayers that keep getting a higher and higher tax burden.

The people that don't want our town to grow and have economic development are passing the increased costs on to our current residents. It is nice to see that some building is going on currently along Lundell Avenue but we are running out of lots so we needed the new land to develop more lots.
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PostSubject: What is the legal authority   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeWed Sep 03, 2008 3:17 pm

Mayor

Why did you not borrow the money from the fund instead of just remove it? Answer the question. Wasn't the removal of this money comparable at the federal level of taking social security money and using it for the purchase of a senate yacht?

Stealing money from the taxpayers is wrong! What legal authority do you rely upon for this transfer?
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mayorblair
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PostSubject: Re: More misuse of City funds by the council   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeWed Sep 17, 2008 9:39 am

Cities, including Ortonville in the past years, have been using enterprise funds to pay for other items. It is a common practice. Some cities use enterprise funds almost entirely to pay for General Fund expenditures. Ortonville has been using Electric Fund money for years to help pay on a street bond. This is legal and done all the time.

The other thing people need to realize is that someone is going to pay for the services that we need. You will pay for it through taxes or utility charges. By using utility charges we split the cost among more people, therefore, lowering the tax cost to the citizens who elected the mayor and council.
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PostSubject: You did not answer the question!   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeWed Sep 17, 2008 8:54 pm

Earmarked money used for a different purpose is political fraud. If Washington increased social security and used it for a golf course the news media would be all over it!

We as taxpayers should not tolerate this fraud!

Your response sounds like an excuse instead of an answer.

We need changes in Washington and we need changes here. To say we are justified because the past mayor did this is not an answer to the question.

Answer the question, What legal authority do you rely upon for this transfer.

My discussions with an attorney who represented 20 cities in Minnesota was that the taking of the money is very close to a legal violation but to borrow between the funds may be legal. Why didn't you borrow from the funds like we have in the past?

Please answer the question this time!
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PostSubject: Mayor's approach is proven wrong!   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeThu Dec 11, 2008 9:55 pm

The recent news and excuses by our city leaders is another demonstration that the direction of the current leadership is wrong. The new story is that the Ortonville sewer system is so inadequate that it is the only city for miles around that had a back-up because it could not take sanitary napkins in the system.
SmileyCentral.com
The insurance company for the city, is using this excuse as a defense not to pay the damaged owners of the negligent act of the city. The specific negligent act was, as the Mayor moved the money around this fall like a casino moves its slot machines he was not spending money on infrastructure like sewer and water.

Mayor, did you not recommend just a few months ago that there was too much money for sewer and water and transferred the money to the golf course?

Perhaps Ortonville is the only city that has a sanitary napkin overflow or perhaps the real issue is the system is so inadequate that it cannot meet the most minor needs of the citizens of Ortonville.

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Lady Hawk
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PostSubject: Re: More misuse of City funds by the council   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeThu Dec 18, 2008 8:48 am

I believe the problem was sanitary wipes, not napkins. They are two different things.

A rather delicate subject to be discussing but I would imagine that such items are more commonly used in hospitals, nursing homes or elderly care. (They would also be used in changing babies diapers, but every woman I have ever seen use them always placed them in the diaper and disposed of them in the trash so I don't think it likely that many wipes come from that arena.)

I wonder how the city would recommend that people dispose of sanitary wipes if they can't be put in the sewer system.

Is there still money in the city sewer funds to correct this problem and how would city funds be used to correct this problem?
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PostSubject: Merge threads   More misuse of City funds by the council Icon_minitimeThu Dec 18, 2008 10:18 am

Perhaps we need to merge this thread with Mustangs.

The issue is that apparently with the new demands created by the expansion of the hospital, which is the most promising economic development project, the cities infrastructure is inadequate to meet the needs of its citizens.

Unfortunately, there are many people whose homes have been damaged and who became very ill as a result of poor planning by the city.

Who is paying their bills that resulted from this poor planning. The insurance company for the city, I suspect the League of Municipalities, only cares about this insurance company profits.

May I suggest to this city council that this is a small town and despite what there insurance company says, we should assist those who were harmed from the incident. Perhaps the city should also look for a new insurance company.
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