Regarding the port, a letter explaining what they did and did not do? What happened to the “rigorous independent review”? I though we were going to have a government certified super dock. Now we have a super dock with a conditional letter? That is quit a shift. You’d think that for a billion dollars it would come with some type of certification. I am a bit disappointed.

Anyway, one thing you could do to really help this project get over the current little speed bump is to outline more of the underlying economics. You see, once they get this puppy up and running, all the new the shippers will come in and the money will start to flow in instead of out. Maybe you could get the planners down at the port to outline when the revenue start to flow into the city coffers and how much profit we can expect each year. All this positive cash flow could go to helping with the city budget in these lean times.

I have a buddy who went to a big university in the lower 48 and learned all about business. He said that the port probably has a business plan for this big expansion and this plan would include something called ROI or return on investment. Maybe you could ask the port for the business plan and the ROI and post these on your web sight?

I don’t know much about fancy economics and all but this one seems simple to me. See the investment part is simple – it’s free. We just politicked a bunch of good ole free federal money right into the local economy and it doesn’t cost us one red cent. The return part kicks in when the shippers show upon and start paying fees to use the new super dock. This should go straight to the city. All we really need to figure this out is a list of the new ships and how much they pay each time they pull up to the port.

Well anyway, once people see the underlying economics 101 on this, all these little problems with the super dock jiggling around, the QC repairs, the government certifications etc will seem insignificant.

I appreciate the work you are putting into this.

Rudy Lachinski

Thank you for sharing the budget process with the public. This is a very useful tool for understanding both the process and the funding level details of the still developing budget. Kudos to you, to the other Assembly members and to the administration for working so hard on crafting a budget that reflects the communities needs and values.

Is the $20,000.00 property tax break for residential properties being applied to our property taxes this year? If so, how is this “entitlement” helping or hurting the budget? It would seem that in a time of budget shortfalls this tax break would be ended. Let me know. Thanks.