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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>1. To me, a tax is what the government collects
because I exist. If I own a house in the Rattlesnake near Pineview Park, I
get my annual property tax bill, which bills me based on what my house is worth,
not the value of the services I use. If I don't have any kids consuming
the services of the public education system, I still have to pay to support
it. Then, because I'm in the Pineview Park SID, I get another bill from
the city demanding money based on the value of my property to help pay to
rebuild the park, regardless of whether I use the park or not. In both
cases, it's a tax. It doesn't matter how my required payment is
structured. The discussion between you and Dave, as I read it, was about
drawing the distinction between a levy (a tax that covers the cash flow needed
before the expense is incurred) and a bond issue (the taxing authority borrowing
the money needed for the cash flow with the expectation that the taxing
authority will recoup the money required to pay the principal and interest from
those it taxes).</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>The Pineview Park SID chose to finance the project
using bonds, thus allowing its members to defer paying the costs of the project,
but incurring the additional expenses of underwriting and interest. It
could have chosen to levy its members in full before the project
commenced. In either case, its members have been taxed; they are not
paying a fee.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>OTOH, if I decide to rent a softball field for a
tournament I'm holding, I'm paying a fee because I'm choosing to buy a specific
service from P&R, and what I pay is based (roughly) on what it costs P&R
to provide that field for me. I could go someplace else if I chose
to. I could host it in my back yard. I don't have to use a P&R
softball field for my tournament, but it's nice that the option is
available. That's a fee, and its amount has a rather well-defined
relationship to the value of what I'm consuming. It doesn't matter how
P&R is providing the softball field I"m renting; maybe their share of the
revenue from property taxes is already in the bank and is sufficient to cover
the cost of preparing it for me until I write them a check. Maybe they've
issued revenue bonds to cover their cash flow that will be paid back by my
rental. It doesn't matter. Either way, it's a
fee.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>2. By 'get around' I mean that the because the
city is limited as to how much it can increase property taxes each year, it has
to either say no to projects like Pineview Park or it has to find another way to
pay for them. Perhaps 'get around' isn't the most elegant way to describe
this, but if there were no limitation to increasing the property tax, the city
could simply add Pineview Park to the budget and increase its property tax by an
amount sufficient to pay for it. It wouldn't need to go thru the hassle of
creating a SID. I'm not suggesting that SIDs are illegal; but rather that
they are an alternative way of taxing property owners.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>3. Again, what I mean by this is that without
SIDs, and the current limitation on how much the city can raise property taxes,
there would be no way to rebuild Pineview Park without cutting out something
else from the budget. I'm simply contrasting a single, straightforward
property tax system with the current combination of property tax and
SIDs. It may well be that even without the property tax increase
limitation imposed by the state, we'd still have SIDs, (and that gets back to my
original question of whether the City is one entity or a confederation of
neighborhoods), but it would be cheaper and more efficient to do projects via
the budget than via SIDs.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>4. Simply don't borrow the money. As I
mentioned before, the Pineview Park SID could have required an upfront payment
sufficient to pay outside contractors before work began and the City could have
covered the in-house expenses it's going to pay anyway, in effect loaning these
services to the SID until payment for them was collected, but doing so without
interest, and there would have been no need to pay $65k to lawyers and
underwriters to create and market the bonds that are generating the funds
to cover the cash flow for this project. I've worked as a systems analyst
for two different muni bond houses (at least one of which I'm pretty sure
Missoula's dealt with), so I'm not questioning that if one chooses to borrow
money there's going to be legal and underwriting fees. My question is
whether there's a way for the taxpayers to get more for their money by not
borrowing in the first place. I believe there is.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009>5. I'm sure the park rebuild is well worth the
money, even if it's a dime a day for forever. But if the City could have
rolled it into the budget instead of having to create a SID and issue bonds, it
would have cost a nickel a day instead.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=969390900-16022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT> </DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com
[mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Ed
Childers<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 15, 2009 16:15<BR><B>To:</B> Jed
Taylor<BR><B>Cc:</B> MissoulaGov<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [MissoulaGov] On
SIDs<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Hi, Jed. You've been writing a lot, you deserve a response.<BR>Here's
some more to think about. Numbers refer to numbers below.<BR>1. "tax" vs "fee."
You need to explain how you would structure both the tax and the fee (and are
you using "tax" as a synonym for Special Improvement District?) to make them
equal. I don't know of a scenario in which they would be equal, or why they'd
need to be.<BR>2. <FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT>a) "get around state law?" b) "using the
SID... to accomplish" etc.<BR>Would you mind explaining how using SIDs gets
around state law? And SIDs have been used by cities and counties for, well, at
least 50 years and doubtless many more.<BR>3. Jed, once again you need to
explain how using SIDs, which are explicitly allowed by state law, would be used
"<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=079504420-15022009>to
accomplish things the state law currently prevents."</SPAN></FONT><BR>4. It
costs money to borrow money. I've never worked in a bank, but as I understand it
banks charge money when you borrow money from them. I'd be glad to hear of a way
to get around paying interest and fees to borrow money, whether from taxpayers
or from bankers.<BR>5. "state law forces the city to use sids?" Nope. See
above.<BR>For what it's worth, I think the cost to individual property owners
paying for Pineview Park was: not much (in the neighborhood of a dime a
day).<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">Ed Childers</PRE>Jed Taylor wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite"><!--[if !mso]>
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</BLOCKQUOTE>1.<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009>What's the difference between a tax and a fee in this
case? If you live in a taxing district, whether it's the City of
Missoula or a SID, you're making a payment to government solely on the basis
of owning property.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>2.<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009>Perhaps the state law needs to be changed.
Under the current system, the city prepares its budget by accounting for
things like COLA payroll increases, rising health care insurance, more
expensive fuel, etc., and then finds that it's hamstrung in collecting enough
money to simply maintain current operations, let alone undertake new projects
like rebuilding a park. So, in order to get around the state law, it
begins using the SID mechanism to accomplish what it can't do in an efficient
and straightforward manner.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>3.<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009>To be sure, I see two advantages to using SIDs.
One, it allows subsets of the city to have higher tax rates to accomplish
things the state law currently prevents (assuming other programs aren't cut),
and as has been pointed out, this subset can equal the city itself. Two,
since 40% of a SID can block the SID, it requires more support than a simple
majority, thus implying only projects with substantial support are funded by
the mechanism.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>4.<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009>OTOH, as demonstrated by the park rebuild financing
and administrative costs, a SID creates another layer of bureaucracy and
expense. Wouldn't taxpayers get more bang for their buck under a system
in which the budget is set and then the taxes required to pay for it are
collected, and that's it?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>5.<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:E84FF708D4B34C0ABEA98A2A78F2718B@ryan type="cite">
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009>One other thing. It seems to me that there's
nothing preventing the Council from saying going forward that while state law
forces the City to use SIDs to raise additional revenue, only city-wide SIDs
will be used. Thus, the park still gets rebuilt, but the entire city
pays for what is an entire city asset. Perhaps that would permit the SID
to piggyback on the standard property tax system instead of having to create
an additional one for the SID. Yes, I realize that in this example of
the park rebuild, the city would be taxing everyone $5 instead of 1,000 people
$750, but if this approach was used, and you didn't want to separately bill
such a small amount, a city-wide SID could cover a bundle of projects spread
across the city, thus combining financial efficiency with
broadly based political support.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=079504420-15022009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left> </DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com">missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com</A>
[<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com">mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com</A>]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Jim McGrath<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 15, 2009
10:21<BR><B>To:</B> Jed Taylor; <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:missoulagov@cmslists.com">missoulagov@cmslists.com</A><BR><B>Subject:</B>
Re: [MissoulaGov] On SIDs<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In order for the
citizens of <ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1:PLACE
w:st="on">Missoula</ST1:PLACE></ST1:CITY> to raise their own taxes –assuming
we agree to that—state law would need to be changed. The city has extremely
limited taxing authority. Hence the shift to fees by municipalities across the
state.<O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
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face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> <A
class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com">missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com</A>
[<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com">mailto:missoulagov-bounces@cmslists.com</A>]
<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Jed
Taylor<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Sunday, February
15, 2009 1:57 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> <A
class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:missoulagov@cmslists.com">missoulagov@cmslists.com</A><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [MissoulaGov] On
SIDs</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Reading the
discussion on SIDs has been interesting. Here are some thoughts I have
on them.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">SIDs seem to really
go to the question of what is the City of <ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1:PLACE
w:st="on">Missoula</ST1:PLACE></ST1:CITY>. If the city is a single
entity in which its residents share the expense of its maintenance and
improvement regardless of any individual neighborhood's relative ability to
contribute to the pot, and maintenance and improvement is provided on the
basis of need regardless of that same relative ability, then SIDs in general
seem to be about the last way projects should be paid for. People get
the city they're willing to pay for, and it's up to those who feel more money
is needed to convince a majority that taxes need to be raised, not necessarily
so their own street is nicer, but so the city in general
is.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">OTOH, if Missoula
is really a confederation of neighborhoods where basic services such as the
police are paid for based on a city-wide basis, but more localized projects
such as rebuilding a park or putting in street lights are undertaken only when
enough residents of a neighborhood can force everyone in that neighborhood to
participate in a SID, then SIDs seem a perfectly rational way of financing
things. It's not the model I prefer, because it seems that this would
tend to Balkanize the city, but it would have the benefit of keeping the
fundamental tax rate lower than the alternative and letting specific areas
decide what they want and what they can live without (although living without
is often not much of a choice, but rather a
necessity).</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">In either case, I
do think it would be a good thing strategically for the council to state which
model they think is appropriate so <ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1:PLACE
w:st="on">Missoula</ST1:PLACE></ST1:CITY> residents know where its government
is coming from and so individual project decisions don't seem ad
hoc.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">There's never going
to be a perfect time or method to transition from SIDs to city-wide
funding. Anyone who's already participated in a SID has already decided
how they're going to pay for it, even if they haven't cut the check yet.
Should the council decide to stop using 'mandatory' SIDs (as opposed to using
the mechanism to help a group voluntarily donate something like a park rebuild
to the city), I would suggest that the council should adopt a 'that-was-then,
this-is-now' approach, declare a new strategic vision, and say something along
the lines of, "Starting in 2010, we 're one city and everyone in the city is
going to help each other pay for what's needed. Therefore, we're no
longer going to use mandatory SIDs as a way of paying for
projects."</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Concerning
sidewalks, it seems that the city could make them the responsibility of each
property owner to maintain his to a minimum standard, much as it does
requiring a property owner to keep his sidewalk clear of snow and ice.
If a property owner wants to tear his up once a year and lay a new one down,
let him. If his sidewalk falls below minimum standards, order it
repaired or have the city do it and bill him. And if he doesn't have a
sidewalk, then the city pays for putting one in and he enjoys the increase in
property value while also acquiring the responsibility to maintain
it.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Regarding letting a
property owner defer his SID payment until the sale of his property, is the
city charging interest on what amounts to a loan? What happens if there
isn't enough money from the proceeds of the sale to pay what he
owes?</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">The cost of
financing of the recent park rebuild SID seems to point to marked benefits
that could be made available to city residents if the city created something
along the lines of a municipal credit union to help them finance local
governmentally imposed financial obligations. From what I heard from the
committee meeting during which the financing of this park rebuild was
discussed, only ~$250k of the cost is going to outside contractors, who
obviously won't want to wait to get paid. Another ~$250k is actually
budgeted items being provided by the city, such as the use of a dump truck,
that are being billed to the SID as if the SID is renting them from the city
(and that's as it should be given the financial design of this project).
Surely, the city doesn't need to paid right away for these items - it's paying
for the dump truck regardless. Therefore, this project is incurring
~$65k of legal and underwriting fees to produce ~$250k of revenue that's
needed decently soon. Maybe this is indeed the absolutely only way to
finance this project, and maybe the SID members find this ratio of fees to
revenue acceptable in order to get the park rebuilt, but these kind of numbers
suggest that there's a very strong need to put in place a program for the
future that makes it possible to cover the cash flow before SID income is
available without spending money on lawyers and
underwriters.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">BTW - am I correct
in assuming that the members of this SID are, in effect, donating this park
rebuild to the city?</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Finally, because
parks are really something for everyone, both within and without the city, to
enjoy, and because there's quite a business function aspect to running the
park system, it seems to me that a separate Missoula Park District would be
something well worth consideration. This District could be, by design,
larger than the city itself, and since it would be a separate taxing district,
people could more readily determine how much they're will to pay for their
Park District and whether they're getting what they're paying
for.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV>
<DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><O:P></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">
<HR style="WIDTH: 337.5pt" align=left width=450 color=#990000 noShade SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana color=#990000 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: rgb(153,0,0); FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">“Be the
change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">
</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></P></DIV></DIV><PRE wrap=""><HR width="90%" SIZE=4>
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