We even went international with our Milk Carton
Do I have any doubt Paul Joiner is a conservative? Nope. The issue has always been the difference between his beliefs and his deeds. While I have known Mr. Joiner for years there has always been a mystifying disconnect between his beliefs and deeds. The Bee Lit up the City of Lincoln
A Placer County grand jury report found the city of Lincoln mismanaged public funds and overcharged residents, echoing findings from a scathing state audit report released two months ago.
Lincoln ignored governing regulations related to water rate-setting, overcharging developers and homeowners, and collecting nearly $41 million in excess in a water connections fund, according to the Wednesday grand jury report. The city “repeatedly failed to conduct required nexus studies to determine reasonable costs” to charge, the report found.
The city also loaned money from the water connections fund to separate accounts “with no assurances that the funds receiving the loans will be capable of repayment,” according to the report, breaking the city’s interfund loan policy.
Where was Paul Joiner when this happened? Where was Paul Joiner when boards and commissions he was on raised fees and taxes? I almost never heard of Mr. Joiner standing up against Staff or standing for rate-payers. In this case, the City of Lincoln ripped off its’ citizens.
What did the City of Lincoln Do? Let’s have a look at the Grand Jury Report.
Lincoln has transferred funds from the WCF, in the form of loans, to other city funds including, but not necessarily limited to the following:
$5.33 million – Redevelopment agency
$5.25 million – Airport
$4.16 million – Fire Stations – Fund 242
These loans are not consistent with California Government Code 66013(c). At the time of this report there were no strategies for repayment, and it appears from sources reviewed that the funds receiving the loans may not currently have the ability to be able to repay those loans in any reasonable timeframe.
Ouch. Remember the shuttered Fire Station that I posted pictures of? Some of the overcharged water money was used to open it up according to the Grand Jury Report.
In July 2017, Lincoln city officials imposed a new rate structure for its retail water customers modeled after PCWA’s. This rate structure was implemented even though Lincoln had not conducted the required studies to demonstrate that these fees did not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the service as required by state law. Lincoln held no hearings and no city council approval was obtained. The net effect of this change increased fees for some properties and decreased others. For example, under the new rate structure, citizens of the Lakeside development were charged fees of $18,353 per lot whereas under the former rate structure, fees would have been $15,295, or approximately twenty percent less.
In January 2019, Lincoln’s City Council approved changes to Municipal Code 13.04.360 to modify the PCWA water connection fee without first completing a formal study. The City Council was advised by city staff that neither a hearing nor a study were necessary because the new rate structure would result in a reduction of the fees. While this modification did result in reduced rates for some, it did not address or correct the lack of studies for the imposition of the 2017 rate structure which maintained the increased rates for other properties. For example, a home on a 35,000 square foot unregulated lot currently has a connection fee of $63,983 (Appendix 2). Per the Twelve Bridges agreement the maximum the city can charge is $45,833 (19,339 x 2.37). The current fee is a forty percent increase. In contrast, PCWA’s highest charge for their retail customers is $48,348.
The Grand Jury Report goes in to excruciating detail on the abuses of the citizens by the City of Lincoln. Where was Paul Joiner when this happened? He was Mayor when the state auditor and the grand jury lit up the City of Lincoln…
to be continued…
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