Potential Terrorists in Texas?

"In a letter Wednesday to the director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Texas said that it would exit the refugee program by Sept. 30 unless Washington meets its demand that national security officials “ensure refugees do not pose a security threat.”

Texas manages about $96 million in federal funds for services provided to refugees, who are resettled there with the assistance of nonprofits, such as the International Rescue Committee and a handful of faith-affiliated agencies.

If Texas cedes this administrative role, the U.S. government likely will partner with a resettlement agency that would disburse the money." WSJ

"Texas, which received more than 7,000 refugees in the past year, has been at the forefront of states seeking to halt resettlement. A federal court ruled in June that Texas couldn't prevent the federal government from sending Syrians there."

How many refugees have been resettled in Georgetown?  Is anyone keeping records? Are we at increased risk for a terror attack because our local, state and federal governments are not performing their basic function of protecting their citizens?

This is a serious problem that our government needs to be paying attention to and if refugees cannot be vetted to assure there are no terrorists among them, then we the people need to reject settling them in our community.

Get involved! Let your elected representations know your position. 

Proposed Speed Limit Change in Sun City

It is proposed that the speed limit on Pedernales Falls Drive between Cool Springs Way and Rocky Hollow Creek Drive and Rocky Hollow Creek Drive between Pedernales Falls Drive and County Road 245, be raised to 35 mph. 

A traffic study has been conducted to justify the increase in speeds and an ordinance is on the City Council agenda for Tuesday, September 28 to change the speed limits.

The traffic study indicated that the speed could safely be raised to 40 mph on Rocky Hollow Creek, but then, golf carts would be precluded from driving on the road.

Georgetown Contract for Medical Director

A contract with DR RYAN RAMSEY AS Medical Director for the Fire/Medical department is on the City Council consent calendar for the next council meeting on Tuesday, September, 26 2016.

The services provided by Dr. Ramsey are exempt from the competitive bidding requirements pursuant to §252.022(4), Texas Local Government Code.

The Dr will be paid $7,000/month for 70 hours/month. That folks is a cool $100 per hour. His expenses for continuing education, travel and work related costs will be paid by the city. This seems like a pretty spiffy salary for part-time work that has no night or week-end requirements. It is unclear as to whether health and retirement benefits are included.

It appears that the state legislature needs to change Texas law that allows this class of contracts to be exempt from competitive bidding. I guess one gets these kinds of jobs by knowing someone in the City.  Wait, isn't that the definition of "crony capitalism"?

It is interesting to note that the only requirements for the job is to hold a valid Texas medical license and state and federal licenses to prescribe all controlled drugs. There is nothing about emergency medicine experience, experience in establishing processes and procedures for fire personnel to administer medical treatment and experience in developing and teaching training for the fire/medical staff.

Stand Against Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

When Castle Rock, CO recently refused to apply for a HUD grant, the recipients of the money were upset. But, Castle Rock had done their homework. Their response to the grantees should be read by every public official who ever considers accepting a federal grant.

Relevant excerpts from the letter that Castle Rock sent to recipients of HUD money follows:

“If we continue to accept the HUD grants, we will be forced to prepare detailed taxpayer-financed studies of our schools, retail, housing, and other community aspects to HUD who will decide if our neighborhoods are “furthering fair housing.” That means that even though our town has never been found in violation of the anti-discrimination housing rules that have been law for over 50 years, HUD on a whim could force us to build low-income, government subsidized housing into our neighborhoods if HUD decides we aren’t racially balanced enough.”

“As a Town Council, we will resist all federal attempt to destroy our local sovereignty, be it from HUD, the EPA, or any other government agency. Council will always defend our resident’s right to make their own local decisions without federal interference. While I appreciate the many good works that are represented by your (the grant applicants’) programs, accepting onerous federal grant requirements, which harm our community, cannot be the price to pay for federal monies.”

One example: according to HUD, if your family home sits on a quarter-acre property, your neighborhood is potentially discriminatory. It would be much less racist if a high-rise low-income apartment building went up next door, never mind local zoning regulations.

More local governments are waking up to the threat that the Federal Government and HUD in particular pose to our local sovereignty. 

Georgetown residents must be vigilant and focused on keeping the City out of these grants. Do not be distracted by emotional pleas for "affordable housing" and do not allow yourself to be sidetracked by less important issues.

Stay informed and let your council members know your position and that we must maintain our local sovereignty.

City Increasing Spending on Public Transportation

At the last City Council workshop, the Council reviewed the proposed public transportation plan.

The city staff has initially focused on a fixed route bus plan, but, the council had previously asked if vouchers could meet the demand for disabled persons using a ride sharing service like Uber or Lyft. The staff said it looked very promising, but, further information and analysis would be required before they would make a recommendation.

They were directed to proceed with information gathering and analysis.

With respect to the fixed bus route, two council persons were opposed on the grounds that the city lacked sufficient population or population density to make fixed bus routes feasible.  The other four council members and the mayor were in favor of proceeding to sign a contract with Capital Metro to provide the bus service.

Therefore, the city staff is proceeding with implementing the plan.  It will cost $542,540 in FY-17 with Georgetown supplying $277,157 and the remainder coming from the Federal Transportation Administration.  That will provide ten months of Capital Area Rural Transportation (CART) service, which is supplied on demand, and two months of fixed route bus service.  Here are the proposed routes:

No one has seemingly asked the following question.  Why is it the responsibility of the City (Taxpayers) to provide some people transportation, but, not others?  Who gets to decide who gets subsidized transportation and who does not and what is the criteria?  City Council?

This seems like another wealth transfer mechanism to take money from the many (Georgetown taxpayers), for the benefit of the few (bus riders).  Once this system is entrenched, it will grow in size and cost and will not be able to be terminated, even though new technologies make it obsolete and costly to operate.  Automous automobiles will be available on demand within the next five to seven years according to many prognosticators.

At least some of the council members acknowledged that this is a subsidized service that will never pay for itself through fares.

Pension Reform Thoughts

Even though the pension fund that Georgetown participates in is currently deemed by "experts" to be in good shape, that is because they assume a 6.75% annual return on their investments. This of course is delusionary in the current and expected investment environment.  Many investment advisors expect the zero interest rates, or even negative interest rates to persist for an indefinite period.

One way that the Texas Municipal Retirement System(TMRS) could increase their returns would be to terminate the money managers and invest only in low cost index funds. Here are the investment categories and target asset allocations used by TMRS.  Investment managers are employed for all asset classes and were paid $37M in 2015.  The bottom four categories, real estate, real return, absolute return, and private equity typically charge higher management fees because they claim to provide superior returns.  The claim of higher returns for these investments have recently come into question in the financial industry.

TMRS spent $58M in 2015 on investment expenses and administrative staff. It is estimated between $30M and $50M in expense could be eliminated annually using the index approach.

Georgetown and the TMRS need to use realistic assumptions on investment returns so that a realistic assessment of the retirement fund health can be determined.

In addition, eliminating the money managers needs to be considered.

The final solution for Georgetown and its taxpayers would be to transition to a "defined contribution" retirement system which is prevalent in the private sector.  This would minimize the risk to the City and it's taxpayers.

Get involved, talk with your city council members.

Toll Road Ripoffs

It was just disclosed that several toll roads in Texas are debt free and tolls are no longer required to service debt.  Instead, TxDot is using tolls to try and modify driver behavior.  What a crock!! (TURF)

A Senate Transportation Committee meeting was held on Wednesday, September 14, 2016 in which considerable information on toll roads was disclosed.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Executive Director James Bass laid out the numbers of how much it would cost to retire tolls on roads built with state funds. Let me say that again, toll roads that were built with state money. That means gasoline taxes and other state funds were used to build the road, but Texas drivers are being charged again, through tolls, to use it — a double tax scheme.

Senator Bob Hall echoed her frustration and pursued it further, “There are numerous toll roads that have no debt on them, and they’re still being tolled.”

Camino Columbia in Laredo, Cesar Chavez in El Paso, SH 130 (the state-operated northern 49 miles from Georgetown to Mustang Ridge) and SH 45 in the Austin area, the Katy Freeway managed toll lanes and the entire Metro High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes in Houston, parts of the Grand Parkway around Houston (segments 1-2A), the DFW connector, and the I-30 managed toll lanes (in fact most all of the managed toll lanes) in Dallas all have no debt and should have the tolls come down immediately. Every one of those lanes was built with state and federal funds, no debt is owed, and yet officials charge tolls simply to profit off of congestion and as a means to manipulate people and traffic.

Hall keyed in on Bass’ statement that several of the toll managed lane projects in Dallas-Ft. Worth had no debt and charged tolls to ‘control traffic through pricing.’ That’s a staggering admission for a highway department run by a conservative governor who prides himself on lowering taxes and taking on government overreach.

Hall insisted TxDOT drop such a punitive approach that seeks to control people, punish and discriminate against the poor, and use something that’s cheaper to implement and doesn’t cost the driver anything, like today’s technologically advanced ramp metering.

Notice that SH 130 (the state-operated northern 49 miles from Georgetown to Mustang Ridge) and SH 45 both require tolls and yet are debt free.

It is time to let your state legislators know that this is unacceptable and those tolls need to be eliminated ASAP!

Get involved, it's your money!

More SunEdison News!

The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee sent letters to seven foreign and domestic companies involved in solar energy requesting information relating to tax credits and financing.WSJ

SunEdison is one of the seven companies and they declined to comment on the letter or their response.

Congressional investigators are examining the use of tax incentives for solar-power companies, third-party financing and how the companies determine the value of the credits.

At issue is a Treasury Department policy that gives solar firms a 30% investment tax credit on the cost of acquiring a system. The tax credit provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in income taxes otherwise owed by a taxpayer; the companies could also opt to get a grant instead of a credit.

Since companies like SunEdison do not generate taxable income to apply the tax credit to, they typically transfer the credits to investors or end users. There is great uncertainty about how solar installations are valued and this is critical to the creation of the tax credits as they are 30% of this value to first order.

Another issue is the Government does not have a tracking mechanism to track which companies have received tax credits and if they have used them or transferred them to others. Since these credits can exist for a very long time, companies could use the same credits more than once and the Government would have no way of knowing.

Questions abound with respect to the credits allowed to SunEdison. Have they received/created any credits? Have they been transferred to their subsidiary Buckthorn-Westex? Has Buckthorn-Westex been sold with credits with the approval of the bankruptcy court?

It's time for the City to tell the citizen/taxpayers what is going on as it affects each and everyone of us.

Pension Crash Ahead?

Harvard Study Shows Wilco Median Income Down

As part of their latest economic study, Harvard calculated the change in median income in Williamson County between 1999 and 2014.Harvard 2016 Econ Review

The distinctive shape of Williamson County is evident in the graphic map and the key indicates the compound annual growth rate(CAGR) of the real median income for the county is between -2.6% and -0.8% over the fifteen year period.

This is consistent with the earlier post on declining weekly wages and is an indication that Georgetown's City Council should be very cautious spending taxpayer's money. 

Rabid Bats Found Downtown Georgetown

Two bats found on the north side of downtown Georgetown last week have tested positive for rabies, city officials said Thursday.

The bats, which were collected Sept. 7 and Friday, were sent to the Department of State Health Services lab in Austin, where positive rabies virus results were indicated this week, the city said in a news release. It said officials do not believe any people were exposed to rabies from the bats, but that it is important to protect pets by making sure they have a current rabies vaccination.

“Not all sick bats have rabies and not all rabid bats appear sick,” said Kelly Thyssen, animal control officer with the Georgetown Police Department. “If you find a bat, especially if it is inside your home, in an area that a child has access to, in a room with a sleeping person, or if your pet potentially had contact with it, please call us.”

To report a bat or other animal that you believe may have rabies, call the 24-hour number for the Georgetown police at (512) 930-3510.

The Georgetown Animal Shelter at 110 W.L. Walden Drive is hosting a low-cost vaccine clinic Sept. 24. Contact the shelter at (512) 930-3592 to make an appointment.Austin Statesman

Williamson County Weekly Wages Decline 7.8%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that average weekly wages for the nation decreased to $1,043, a 0.5 percent decrease, during the year ending in the first quarter of 2016. Among the 344 largest counties, 167 had over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. BLS

Average weekly wages in Williamson County for the first quarter of 2016 were $1,009. This represents a -7.8% decline compared to the first quarter of 2105.

Show Me the Money

In the City of Georgetown FY16 Budget, sales tax revenue was projected to be $14.3M and the City expenditures were established based on that number.

It is now reported that the expected sales tax revenue for FY16 is $22.9M.  That is a difference of $8.6M!

Where is that money going?  Is this a "slush fund" for the City Council to spend on pet projects without public acknowledgement?

We certainly haven't seen a reduction in city taxes.  

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Another Non-Elected Transportation Agency

WOW! Who knew that there is another non-elected, state chartered transportation organization with cognizance over Central Texas.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) is an independent government agency created in 2003 to improve the transportation system in Travis and Williamson Counties in Texas. Their mission is to implement innovative, multi-modal transportation solutions that reduce congestion and create transportation choices that enhance quality of life and economic vitality.

The Mobility Authority is overseen by a seven-member Board of Directors.[1] The Governor appoints the Chairman, and the Travis and Williamson Counties Commissioners Courts each appoint three members to serve on the Board.

It appears this board is heavily populated by lawyers and land developers.CTRMA

The Mobility Authority was created and operates under the Texas Transportation Code Chapter 370 and is authorized under state law to implement a wide range of transportation systems including roadways, airports, seaports and transit services. The Mobility Authority is authorized to issue revenue bonds to fund projects and can use user fees and/or taxes to fund operations and repay bonds.

How about that?  They have authority to issue bonds, levy fees and taxes and establish toll roads!  We can thank this organization for the tolls on Hwy 183A and MoPac.

Their current endeavor is a $743 million 183 South Expressway project in Austin that will widen U.S. 183 between U.S. 290 and SH 71 into a Texas-sized 12-lane superhighway.

Add the CTRMA to the list of non-elected transportation organizations that operate in Williamson County and affect Georgetown... LoneStar Rail District, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), Capital Metro, and Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS).

Isn't it wonderful to have another non-elected transportation organization with a $72M budget helping us solve our traffic problems using bicycle lanes, green energy concepts, car pooling assistance, phone apps and roadside assistance!

Wilco EMS Among the Best in the Nation

The Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services standards, a nationwide rating agency of peers, announced that Wilco EMS met their accreditation standards. Williamson County EMS Director Kenny Schnell said only nine EMS providers (including Williamson County) in Texas — out of 782 total — have CAAS accreditation. Nationwide, only 176 out of about 16,000 have met those standards. This means the Wilco EMS is among the top 1% emergency service providers in the U.S.

During its regular weekly meeting Tuesday morning, the Commissioners Court recognized EMS senior leadership and staff who have met Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services standards. Wilco EMS Accreditation

Recall that in November 2014 at the Texas Department of State Health Services’ annual Emergency Medical Services conference in Fort Worth, Williamson County EMS received two of the top awards. Schnell was named Administrator of the Year and Dr. Jeff Jarvis was honored as Medical Director of the Year.

Who is Georgetown's EMS medical director?  What are his qualifications?  Does anyone know?

So Georgetown has traded one of the best EMS organizations in the U.S. for a new startup that has cost taxpayers significant dollars that is not recognized as being among the "best".

Has your City Council been good stewards of your money and safety by providing the "best" EMS available? You decide!

Texas Sales Tax Revenues Down

Texas Sales Tax Revenues Down (Texas Comptroller)

Hegar said today that state sales tax revenue in August was $2.5 billion, down 2.6 percent compared to August 2015.

“The decline in state sales tax revenue was led by reduced collections from the oil and natural gas-related sectors, but collections from the retail trade and information sectors also were down compared to a year ago,” Hegar said. “Increases continued to be seen from construction and restaurants.”

Georgetown continues to realize increasing sales tax revenue, but, it cannot continue if the state sales tax revenues continue to decline.

Your Tax Dollars in Action

The Georgetown City Council will meet on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 11:30 AM at the Westside Service Center, 5501 Williams Dr., Georgetown, Texas.  This is the facility that the City has spent more than $4.M building and furnishing.  It includes 11,000 sf of air conditioned space and several vehicle service bays. Since City Council meetings are open to the public, drop by to view how your tax dollars are being spent.

Tough Times for Savers and Pension funds

Thoughts from the Frontline is a free weekly economic e-letter by best-selling author and renowned financial expert, John Mauldin who is based in Dallas.  He recaps the Federal Reserve’s recent Jackson Hole, Wyoming, retreat.

"Jackson Hole revealed things that did not make it into the reporting of the event by the mainstream media. Turns out, the academic and philosophical underpinnings were laid down there for a radical expansion of the Federal Reserve’s toolbox. I guess you could call that creative, but I wouldn’t call it helpful, because the unthinkable policy that I have been warning about since last May – yes, we’re talking negative rates – was not only discussed at Jackson Hole, it was discussed in a positive, even slavishly approving, manner. I am going to share with you my sense of what happened at Jackson Hole and what it really means. I trust that by the end of this letter you will better understand just how bankrupt – and disastrous – what passes for sound economic thinking among the world’s central bankers actually is.

Negative interest rates were a principal topic.  "So we’re in a world where they seem to work", so says Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer

Let’s read that sentence again: “… the idea is, the lower the interest rate the better it is for investors.” They are sacrificing mom-and-pop middle America, the hard workers who have played by the rules and retired and saved and now want to live out their lives enjoying their grandkids and a little well-deserved relaxation, and they find they can’t do that because the Federal Reserve thinks that protecting Wall Street and wealthy investors and bankers is more important.

If you ask other Fed decision makers outright whether they support this remarkable view of Dr. Fischer’s, they would of course cough, mumble, and then launch into a jargon-laden digression, since Fischer’s little “trade-off” is so obviously politically incorrect. But the reality is that protecting investors at the expense of savers is precisely what Fed policy aims to do; and here Fischer, in an astonishing moment of candor, has come right out and admitted it. How in the name of all that is holy and just can you think that the public’s savings have to be sacrificed on the altar of equity prices?

I should point out that we’re not just talking about middle-class America, Europe, and Japan. The [multiple expletives deleted] central bankers are jackhammering to smithereens the very foundation of our retirement system. They are making it impossible for pension funds and insurance companies to meet their targets and to provide their services without massive contributions that will have to come from taxes and skyrocketing insurance rates that will have to be paid mostly by the middle class."

Although the Fed believes low interest rates are good for "equities", the recent performance of pension funds do not support that notion. 

Notice the comment that pension funds will not meet their obligations in the current interest rate environment without massive infusions of cash from the taxpayer.  Pension funds are not achieving the necessary investment returns from either equities or bonds.  It is time for Georgetown to get ahead of this issue before it becomes a crisis!

New Purl Elementary School to Cost $262/sq ft

Perhaps the City needs to contract with Georgetown ISD for the construction of the new city hall. Georgetown ISD is demolishing and removing asbestos from the old school and building a brand new 116,000 square foot elementary school for $30.4M. For those who care to do the math, that is $262/sq ft.

Compare that with the $13.0M for the city hall at $355/sq ft for 36,600 sq ft. For anyone who believes the $13.0M final cost, there is a bridge in Brooklyn for sale at a very reasonable cost!

In fact it is even worse than that. To demolish the old library and communications buildings, the City estimated the cost to be $20.936M which is $572/sq ft. Something is seriously wrong with the city's cost estimates.

A call is repeated to establish a citizen review board of knowledgeable development/construction Georgetown taxpayers to review proposed plan before Council commits to proceed and monitor construction as it progresses.

Military Intel Confirms Terrorists Coming Across Texas/Mexico Border

"A U.S. military intelligence report discloses that Muslim terrorists are being smuggled into the country through Mexico. The government calls them Special Interest Aliens (SIA) and Latin American smuggling networks are helping them cross the border, according to information obtained from a U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Intelligence dispatch."Judicial Watch

Even though there have been no public reports of terrorists in the Georgetown area, it would be prudent to be alert at all times to the possibility that terrorists are in the area.