The city of Brentwood is trying to convince residents to take a survey on the ‘Brentwood Bound’ project designed to alleviate flooding on Manchester Road.
City officials have heard the first reading of a measure to place a one-half percent sales tax on the April 2 ballot to provide funding for flood control and economic development activities along Manchester Road, and connect Brentwood’s trails to the Gateway Greenway network.
Residents are asked their opinions on various features of the plan, how long they have lived in Brentwood, age group, and other questions in the survey that the city says will take five minutes to complete.
We are buying an iPhone in NY and saving $40. in taxes by doing it. That said, the city NEEDS TO PROTECT ITS CITIZENS FROM FLOODING. The north side of the city is bright and profitable. The south side of the city LOOKS strictly lower class and will not get better until something is done about the flooding. We just ok’d putting a lot of money into the SCHOOLS which just need 1/10 of that much to make them accessible to the handicapped, and we DID NOT put it into fixing the FLOOD situation, which is stopping the commercialization of the south side of our city. If we got more businesses on the south side, we would get tax money from the businesses and pay less as residents. Sign a limited term bond and get the flood plain fixed!
if i understand correctly, there will be a meeting moved up to thursday, 1/17 to meet the deadline to get this on the April ballot. To stop the collision with red ink , get the word out, show up and ask some tough questions. This is city improv planning at it’s finest. They are making it up as they go along.
Please do come to the Board of Aldermen meeting on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. However, a better place to get answers to your questions (tough or otherwise) would be the Brentwood Bound Outreach Q&A, Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the Brentwood Community Center. I will be there to answer as many of your questions as I can.
The advantage of the Q&A is that we can have a discussion which is not really possible in the formal Board of Aldermen meeting. My hope is that this will allow YOU to get the information YOU want, at least to the extent I am able to provide it. I don’t mind if you think it is improv planning or that I am making it up as I go along. I will share all the information I have as clearly and accurately as I can. I am equally interested in hearing concerns or doubts about Brentwood Bound. In this way perhaps we can all leave better informed.
I have a better idea. Rather than forcing us come listen to a politician (who as we all know tell us what they want us to hear), how about you post on the Brentwood website all of your math, including your assumptions for sales taxes over the next 25 years (by year), along with our debt payments (by year). I would like to review these calculations and assumptions, rather than hear sound bytes or see PowerPoint presentations for a quick second, where I cannot analyze them. Since you want us to bear $70 MILLION of new debt, we should be able to see all of this.
Good job Barb!
A sales tax in Brentwood of up to 10.6%. NO THANKS.
I certainly hope the residents of our city are smart enough to vote no on this new tax. This mayor is bound and determined to sink this city in debt. We just took out $40 MILLION of new debt to start this project. We don’t even have approved plans for that $40 MILLION of spending, and this guy wants to sink another $30 MILLION in debt. This project will take tax-paying businesses off of the tax roles, while we add debt payments to the city. And when asked about it, he throws out un-vetted numbers that he created sitting at his kitchen table. Nobody has seen any of the calculations of these mythical numbers. We are playing with fire here by sinking the city in $70 MILLION of debt without a real plan.
From What I’ve seen the city does have a plan. It has hired a large engineering firm that has designed a extensiveness plan to help fix the flooding issue, check it out its on their website. Think of all the tax dollars we’ve lost to the the decline on Manchester, all the bushiness that have left and buildings torn down left for empty lots. Each time another flood washes through, building see more neglect until they are no longer marketable because no one wants to invest money in to a property that perpetually floods. Building then sit vacant until there owners no longer want to pay the real estate taxes on them and they are torn down and left for grassy lots that no developer wants because its to risky to build there.
As my name indicates, I deal with facts, and my statement is true. We do not yet have an APPROVED plan for the work in the flood plain. FEMA has not yet approved the plan (see 12/17/18 Board of Aldermen meeting video starting at 1:24:17). And many of the owners of the businesses that this plan is displacing have stated publicly that their businesses have NEVER been flooded. This is a property grab, pure and simple, to feed the ego of the outgoing mayor. Who is trying to saddle this city with $70 MILLION of debt, and then ride off into the sunset. Adding this much debt during a time when brick-and-mortar sales are flat-to-down (read any business publication!) does not make much sense.
Again, well said Barb.
Thank you Barb! Well said.
The city, through Brentwood Bound is not asking for your views. They’re trying to influence them in order to get a new tax approved. This is the classic definition of a “push poll”. Read the poll – “Since we all agree that “A” is totally true, then doesn’t it follow that we must do “B”, and use YOUR money to pay for our wonderful plan to fix everything?”
And really, what do age and gender have to do with this? Just curious why the city should ask those questions when the subject is a tax increase.
And according to my Alderman, the money to pay for this campaign comes from $42 million borrowed by the city for the project. In other words, they’re using your tax dollars to persuade you to give them even more of your money. I find this to be dishonest and underhanded.
I agree that a fix is needed on Manchester, but I don’t much like being treated like a sheep by the city. By all means, formulate a plan and sell it on its merits. I’ll listen. Just don’t treat us like the rubes you apparently think we are.
Is there a grant that the city will be using? I know that Maplewood was offered a federal grant for the Maplewood Bound project.
That was the way I understood it at first. Then I asked an alderman where the money for the PR campaign is coming from, and he said it came from the $42 million we borrowed. Maybe they didn’t want this (and the tax increase) to become public until after the PR had a chance to take hold. It’s called shaping public opinion. Again, I believe that something needs to be done in that area. It’s turning into our own little slum. But I think they should get all cards on the table before making these decisions and spending a lot of money.