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Jan 7, 2015
Bet Shemesh financial troubles coming to a head
I'm not sure what is more interesting in this article about Bet Shemesh politics - either that the Haredi coalition members are fighting with each other and with the mayor, or that the government is on the verge of appointing an accompanying comptroller to the city because of how bad the finances of the city have been handled and how bad the financial situation is because of it.
As reported on Radio Kol Hai:
Basically, the fight is over budgets and budget cuts - like almost always. The mayor, Moshe Abutbol, has decided he has no choice but to put in place budget cuts across the board - in every department in the city.
Obviously, they, and everyone else, will always be upset when their budgets get slashed, but they are particularly upset about this one. Some of the coalition members think that the Haredi education budget should not have been cut, even if it means cutting other things in its place. Abutbol decided that among the cuts, he has to also cut, either entirely or at least a large portion of, the budget for an educational project run by Yad Eliezer (the city has been giving them 400,000nis for this project, with yad Eliezer committing to match it 2:1).
Abutbol has a 40 million shekel deficit, and plans to cut the budget by 25 million shekel in order to fix it. The city has grown in recent years, as its expenses have, but the revenue has not. The taxes from industrial zones has not grown, because thousands of new residents have moved in but no new industrial zones were built or existing ones expanded, and not enough new businesses moved to town. As well, building usually lets the money flow into municipal coffers, but in this case, much of the building was only approved with the money going to giving the Old City a face lift, so that money is not available for the city budgets. Also, the government has cut the money it gives as assistance to the city.
According to the report, the city is about to come to a standstill, and even the cultural services will be slashed during this year due to lack of funding.
This has led to fighting in the coalition. Degel and Koach have joined together to vote against Abutbol recently, especially because of the cut to Yad Eliezer..
Because of this fight, Abutbol still has not been able to pass the budget for the new year. Degel and Koach voted against it in a recent vote.
As reported on Radio Kol Hai:
Basically, the fight is over budgets and budget cuts - like almost always. The mayor, Moshe Abutbol, has decided he has no choice but to put in place budget cuts across the board - in every department in the city.
Obviously, they, and everyone else, will always be upset when their budgets get slashed, but they are particularly upset about this one. Some of the coalition members think that the Haredi education budget should not have been cut, even if it means cutting other things in its place. Abutbol decided that among the cuts, he has to also cut, either entirely or at least a large portion of, the budget for an educational project run by Yad Eliezer (the city has been giving them 400,000nis for this project, with yad Eliezer committing to match it 2:1).
Abutbol has a 40 million shekel deficit, and plans to cut the budget by 25 million shekel in order to fix it. The city has grown in recent years, as its expenses have, but the revenue has not. The taxes from industrial zones has not grown, because thousands of new residents have moved in but no new industrial zones were built or existing ones expanded, and not enough new businesses moved to town. As well, building usually lets the money flow into municipal coffers, but in this case, much of the building was only approved with the money going to giving the Old City a face lift, so that money is not available for the city budgets. Also, the government has cut the money it gives as assistance to the city.
According to the report, the city is about to come to a standstill, and even the cultural services will be slashed during this year due to lack of funding.
This has led to fighting in the coalition. Degel and Koach have joined together to vote against Abutbol recently, especially because of the cut to Yad Eliezer..
Because of this fight, Abutbol still has not been able to pass the budget for the new year. Degel and Koach voted against it in a recent vote.
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Several thoughts: the mayor certainly is not wasting money on the City's cleanliness...Dolev is filthy with garbage despite it being one of the most heavily trafficked streets, with large numbers of children, densely packed into multiple storied buildings. meanwhile, Luz, where the rich folk live, with few children, and one-family cottages enjoys a daily street cleaner who even sweeps up the private drives. Second, how does cutting 25m from a 40m deficit with no new business expansion fix the deficit? Using this thought process and math may be the cause of the financial problems. Finally, people get the government they deserve and guess whom they voted into office even with the City shouldering mounting deficits at the time of the election of the incumbents.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that dolev is way to dirty and I have in fact complained about it to the iriya. I just want to point out that there is a cleaner on this street seemingly every morning. He just doesn't seem to do such a great job and that's probably because dolev is 3x the size if luz...
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with you. The sweeper is as much a victim of bad management as are the residents and businesses along Dolev. By the way, the Park Center park is a mess with mudslides onto the sidewalk, gravel and rocks on the paths, and it is unsightly...but keep the incumbents in office--that's always a good policy for change.
DeleteWell, remember that the campaign material claimed that the city's deficit was reduced by 80 million during Abutbol's first term. (Never mind that the reason - because the city received 200 million for the sale of the water works, meaning the city actually lost 120 million - didn't make it to publication.)
ReplyDeleteWe have that same street cleaner in Ramat Shilo. Everyone says hi to him and he LOVES cleaning our area (and we love him too). Dolev might have more than one street cleaner, I'm not there often enough to notice. But Dolev is indeed a larger population, with a much smaller percentage of those who make efforts to keep the area clean, or to say hi to their street cleaner :-(
I too think he's a hard worker and nice guy. Every morning on my way home from minyan we say hello to one another, and a neighbor brings him coffee a few time a week. I gave him a tip for Pesach and told him how much I appreciate his work.
DeleteWow kol hakavod!
Deletevery simple message to your frum council members: you'll either get your act together (on way or another) or the government will dissolve the city government and appoint someone who doesn't give a hoot about your local politics.
ReplyDelete