Comments on: Boise Raises Tax Levy, Doles Out Cash To Unions, Elected Officials, One Citizen Calls It An “Exhibition Of Unprecedented Arrogance”

By: Ronin

Ronin — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:35:28 +0000

Why not force those who wear a badge to work on a volunteer basis such as a large portion of the firefighters do.
this would have two benefits,
1) Those who are serious about protecting the community would be willing to work for free, and thus those who are guilty of abusive tactics would filter out of the positions. The fear of government would eventually return to 0, as it should be.
2) The money saved could be spent to educate the population, there is unconfirmed studies that show that the more educated the populace is, the less likely they are to become criminals, thus the need to support the police with extravagant amenities such as new cars every year, becomes futile.

By: George

George — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 03:04:56 +0000

11 years ago Boise took over providing fire services in areas that Whitney Fire covered. All Whitney firefighters became members of Boise Fire. At this time to paint a picture, Whitney fire district was the size of a pie. The Whitney fire chief retired about 4-6 months after the take over. Whitney fire commissioners were and still in existence to this day. After Whitney’s chief retired the commissioners wanted extra management after the chief was gone. Boise fire chief Renn Ross at the time appointed 1 new Batallian chief per shift as managers, this cost Boise city approximately 150,000 per BC each yr so roughly 500,000 per year. Whitney does pay an amount to Boise each year, but they are using all their reserve funds and soon get to the time when they will be exhausted. Boise closed the old Whitney station on Overland road and built a new station S five mile. Here’s the kicker, in 2007 after not having a fire chief for 7 years and the size of Whitney fire district is the size of a slice of the pie, Boise fire chief retires and Whitney commissioners make him the new fire chief at 62,000 plus benefits, after 5 yrs, this December he will be retiring with a retirement of 11.5 percent of his 5 yr average. Here is where greed as Gordon Gecco from the movie Wall Street stated is the real tragedy. At the new Whitney station on S Five Mile, one of the fire rigs was a 7,000 gal water tender which is needed as in that area, fire hydrants are not closely available as in Boise City. In Oct of 2011, the water tender was shut down due to costs, it is manned should there be an extra firefighter available on that shift. I have a fire report from early this year that a house caught fire, first in engine company was on a medical, so a different fire engine was dispatched, it only took a short time to run out of water, and extra engines were called in, some 7-10 miles. So basically who out there would like the Whitney fire chief, where you have a part time secretary to supervise, no firefighters to manage, vehicle full benefits, nobody knows where your at if you show up at all, as a lot of firefighters have told me the chiefs gotten his golf game pretty good at Falcon Crest. Whitney district size in 2007 was 9 share ft. Boise officials could say he wasn’t our employee, his cost was paid by Whitney fire district, does anybody else see the catch 22, Boise city has lost 400-500 thousand that should have gone into Boise’s fire budget and the new Boise fire chief was a big help in this waste of Boise tax payers dollars.

EDITOR NOTE–Can you offer any insight about Boise taking over the NACFR, absorbing the firefighters, closing the station on Chinden and increasing response times for Fairview and Chinden areas.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:09:11 +0000

I saw a piece today on the fiscal cliff and how federal block grants to police departments and cities are most likely on the chopping block. Does anyone know how much the city of Boise gets from federal block grants? Thanks!

By: Nan Emouse

Nan Emouse — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:21:58 +0000

Actually East Side, the ACHD did NOT take the 3% increase in property tax, unlike Boise City. They get money from other sources like impact fees and gas tax which may account for the increase in the budget. And don’t forget Boise’s taking more in electric franchise fees (notice your bill went up?), recreation fees, fines and sewer costs. In fact, it would appear Boise never met a tax or fee they didn’t love and love to raise! ACHD ain’t perfect, by any means, but at least they balance their budget and not on the backs of the taxpayers.

By: erico49

erico49 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:38:35 +0000

Rod has a couple excellent points. One is the overmilitarized police department. They will never get accused of under-responding. They are intimidating.. by design I think. His second point is that his taxes (not the levy) went up 15%. That points out a basic flaw in the property tax system. House values have nothing to do with either the services received or the ability to pay. Had he lived in another area of town where the assessment didn’t change as much, he would have had a different rate of change. Basic unfairness.

By: East side

East side — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:13:40 +0000

Arnold and ACHD are the worst example of local government budgets and ‘arrogance’. And her statement is equally “absolutely ridiculous”.
In the 2013 Budget, the Director states: Budget Summary
The total budget reflects a three‐percent increase over the prior year and is responsive to the county’s needs. AND “Personnel costs… represents a
3.1‐percent rise over the prior year”.

Go to a meeting and it is clear, they have already decided based on staff recommendation instead of thoughtful input from guests doing an “excercise in futility”.
Not sure if she is a crock pot or a cast-iron kettle.

By: Clancy

Clancy — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:37:27 +0000

Zipp- I think you missed notalib’s sarcasm.

By: Zippo

Zippo — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:40:31 +0000

notalib you are out of touch with most people’s reality.

By: notalib

notalib — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Stop complaining! I watched the morning news, including the indepth coverage on the NBC Today show, that our economy is in recovery. The new housing starts are booming nationwide and our great president has brought this country back from the brink of financial destruction. It’s time to move “forward” folks. No time to look back. What ever our city council and mayor earns is not enough!

By: 3-Hicolonic

3-Hicolonic — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:28:29 +0000

The real issue here is not what they make but the costly decisions they make with very little regard for taxpayers.

There is always a certain amount of money we can all expect to pay for living in our cities and counties but when they start talking about a train to nowhere and other folly and disregard for taxpayers it makes me angry.