[MissoulaGov] SID Deferrment

[John Torma]

I am enjoying this discussion thread immensely.  While I acknowledge the seriousness of the issue,  it certainly does exemplify how arcane some of the things that the council has to deal with can be.  Don't get me wrong -- I am very glad that those of you who have a facility for thinking in these terms are willing to work this out for those like me who would rather get a tooth pulled than work on a budget.

Thanks for this on-line discussion and for bringing a chuckle to my Sunday afternoon.

John T




________________________________
From: David Strohmaier <dstrohmaier at msn.com>
To: Ed Childers <echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us>; Jim McGrath <jmcgrath at missoulahousing.org>
Cc: Bob Jaffe <bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us>; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 1:05:48 PM
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] SID Deferrment


For clarification, what I was originally positing was a city-wide “levy.”
 
Dave Strohmaier
 
From:Ed Childers [mailto:echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us] 
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 11:28 AM
To: Jim McGrath
Cc: David Strohmaier; Bob Jaffe; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] SID Deferrment
 
Mea culpa, Jim.
A levy is a levy, referred to in my previous post as a "levy."
A bond issue is a bond issue, referred to in my previous post as a "special improvement district." (SID).

More accurately, "SID" is a generic term that can be either a levy or a bond issue.
Thus we have SIDs for park districts and a street cleaning ("flushing") district and lighting districts that are levies.
We have SIDs for sewer installation and road installation and underground utilities and park improvements that are bond issues.

Better? :)
++
For clarity, I guess the discussion should distinguish between citywide bond issues and citywide levies. Right or wrong, that's the discussion I was hearing.

A citywide levy would be assessed as a citywide SID. A citywide bond would probably be sold as a General Obligation Bond and assessed as such.

Back to your regular programming...

---ed



Ed Childers
echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us
  
406-728-3751
406-546-7681 (cell)
  
www.ci.missoula.mt.us
  


Jim McGrath wrote: 
Thanks for the clarification.
But it seems that Dave is discussing something different. 
“I think this is somewhat a matter of semantics, because for all intents and purposes a city-wide street, park (you name it) maintenance district is very much akin to a city-wide SID with the exception being that it would not sunset after a specified period of time (e.g., 20 years) but would be envisioned as a burden that the entire community would bear as long as there are streets and sidewalks and trails to maintain.”
This is like the downtown street cleaning district which is assessed each year – your definition of levy, I guess. But how would a city-wide district levy be different than a city-wide tax levy? 
 
 
 
 

________________________________

From:Ed Childers [mailto:echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us] 
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 10:05 AM
To: David Strohmaier
Cc: Jim McGrath; 'Bob Jaffe'; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] SID Deferrment
 
My nickel's worth:
    A Special Improvement District: bonds are sold up front to finance improvements; property owners in the defined District Area repay the loan (bonds) over a predetermined time period; they pay interest on the loan (bonds) at a predetermined interest rate.
    A Levy: an annual charge to property owners in a defined area. The amount is set periodically (in my experience, annually) based either on some anticipated benefit to the owners or on benefit already delivered.
    Some combination of the two is possible; for instance there was a proposal to sell Bonds to finance improvements at the Fort Missoula Park, and charge an annual levy that would have repaid the loan (Bonds) and provided ongoing maintenance.
    
    Not surprisingly, when we start discussing a proposal for citywide financing of local projects such as sidewalks that have historically been financed locally, people who have already paid for their own local improvements object to paying for other people's. By the same token, when we have a proposal for local financing of what appears to some to have been financed citywide, people object.

---ed



Ed Childers
echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us
 
406-728-3751
406-546-7681 (cell)
 
www.ci.missoula.mt.us
 


David Strohmaier wrote: 
I think this is somewhat a matter of semantics, because for all intents and purposes a city-wide street, park (you name it) maintenance district is very much akin to a city-wide SID with the exception being that it would not sunset after a specified period of time (e.g., 20 years) but would be envisioned as a burden that the entire community would bear as long as there are streets and sidewalks and trails to maintain.
 
Happy Valentine’s Day
 
From:Jim McGrath [mailto:jmcgrath at missoulahousing.org] 
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 10:30 PM
To: David Strohmaier; Bob Jaffe; missoulagov at cmslists.com


      
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