Budget town hall meetings

I was expecting the Dallas city manager's proposed budget for the next fiscal year would be on the city's Web site by now, but no such luck. What is there, however, is a list of the budget townhall meetings, those fun little gripe sessions where not enough people to make a difference show up, are treated to a power point presentation from an assistant city manager or, in many cases, City Manager Mary Suhm herself, and those in attendance get to complain about the reduced hours at rec centers and libraries as though someone can manufacture money and do something about it. The art farts will pack Angela Hunt's townhall meetings and complain about how the Department of Cultural Affairs is being merged with the Library Department (since I have not seen the final budget, this is conjecture; but I have heard this will be part of Ms. Suhm's budget) and will argue that the arts actually generate a lot of income for the city, which might be true, but not the art programs that were once subsidized by the city. I have no problem whatsoever with the city cutting the purse strings on these arts programs; they should be underwritten by the private sector or left to wither on the vine.

I guarantee you the one thing that will go over everybody's head: PILOT. That's a shifty program the city has to raise your taxes and hide that fact in the form of a water rate increase. The way it works is this: Instead of you paying additional taxes, Dallas Water Utilities pays them for you' That's right -- DWC forks over a significant amount of cash to shore up the city's General Fund. Then, to cover this expense, DWC raises your water rates. In fact, PILOT stands for Payment in Lieu of Taxes. Now, what the city will tell you is that every other utility pays the city taxes, so why not the water utility. Of course, the reason is that the water utility is part of the city so it is essentially taking money out of your left pocket and moving it over to your right pocket, except in this case they are forcing water customers to pay for the shift.

So, what say you? Why not attend one of these town hall meetings and ask about PILOT and watch the song and dance you'll see. It can be very entertaining. And ask them to defend the idea that it is not a hidden tax increase.

And while you're there, congratulate the folks in the Sanitation Services Department. They are actually reducing their rate by 64 cents a month. That may not seem like a lot (the annual savings is a whopping $7.68), but the operative word here is "reduce." In this budget cycle, with everything else going up, the amount Sanitation's reduction is irrelevant. But then you might say, "But they're cutting back on my trash pickup to once a week." To which I'll reply: "A good portion of the city is already receiving once-a-week garbage pickup and they like it just fine." It means people will recycle more (recycling pickup will also be once a week, not biweekly), and air quality will be improved marginally by fewer garbage trucks running around our streets and alleyways. It should be noted, too, that most other U.S. metropolitan areas feature once-a-week garbage pickup and only once or, at the most, twice a year bulky trash pickup, while we will continue to have it once a month (for the next fiscal year, at least). I know of at least one city council person who would like to see the sanitation rate cut even more, and eliminating bulky trash pickup completely is one of the ways this council person sees as a way of accomplishing this. But, hey, if you agree with that notion, bring that up at one of the below-listed townhall meetings as well. It would be more constructive that moaning about rec center or library hours or even eliminating a lot of arts funding.

There's some differences in the town hall meeting schedules this year. Not all of them are in the evening --Vonciel Hill has a couple at noon and Pauline Medrano has scheduled one for 10 a.m. -- and some are being held on Wednesdays. That day was usually left open in the past, because that is when the City Council holds its weekly meetings. Jerry Allen has scheduled one for Aiken Elementary School, which is not even located in his district, but should be after the next redistricting. The busiest date is Sept. 1 when six town hall meetings are scheduled (which should stretch the city's staff pretty thin). And Ms. Hill may be setting a modern-day record by hosting seven -- count em, seven -- budget town hall meetings.

Monday
Anita Martinez Rec Center, 3212 N. Winnetka; 6:30 p.m., Steve Salazar, host
Tommy Allen Rec Center, 7071 Bonnie View Road; 7 p.m.; Tennell Atkins, host
Tuesday
Kleberg Rylie Rec Center, 1515 Edd Road; 7 p.m., Tennell Atkins, host
Wednesday
Jaycee/Zaragoza Rec Center, 3114 Clymer; 6:30 p.m.; Steve Salazar, host
Thursday
MLK Jr. Senior Center, Building E, 2901 Pennsylvania Ave.; 6:30 p.m.; Carolyn Davis, host
Monday, Aug. 17
South Oak Cliff High School Auditorium, 3601 S. Marsalis; 7 p.m.; Dwaine Carraway, host
Singing Hills Rec Center, 1909 Crouch; 6:30 p.m.; Vonciel Hill, host
Tuesday, Aug. 18
Thurgood Marshall Rec Center; 5151 Mark Trail Way; 6:30 p.m.; Vonciel Hill, host
Bachman Rec Center, 2750 Bachman Drive; 6:30 p.m.; Steve Salazar, host
Lake Highlands Freshman Center Auditorium, 10200 White Rock Trail; 7 p.m.; Jerry Allen, host

West Dallas Multipurpose Center, 2828 Fish Trap; 6:30 p.m.; Dave Neumann, host
Wednesday, Aug. 19
Arcadia Park Library, 1302 N. Justin; 6:30 p.m.; Steve Salazar, host
Thursday, Aug. 20
North Central Police Station, 6969 McCallum; 7 p.m.; Ron Natinsky, host
Fruitdale Rec Center, 4408 Vandervoort; 6:30 p.m.; Vonciel Hill, host
Peak Academy Cafeteria, 4600 Bryan; 6:30 p.m.; Pauline Medrano, host
Eloise Lundy Rec Center, 1229 Sabine; 6:30 p.m.; Carolyn Davis, host
Hitt Auditorium, Methodist Hospital, 1441 N. Beckley; 6:30 p.m.; Dave Neumann, Delia Jasso, co-hosts
Monday, Aug. 24
Auditorium, Edna Rowe Elementary, 4918 Hovenkamp; 7 p.m.; Dwaine Carraway, host
Room 108/109, Pleasant Gove Campus, Eastfield College, 802 S. Buckner, 6:30 p.m.; Vonciel Hill, host
Skyline Public Library Auditorium, 6006 Everglade; 6:30 p.m., Carolyn Davis, host
Tuesday, Aug, 25
Pleasant Oaks Rec Center, 8701 Greenmound; 6:30 p.m., Vonciel Hill, host
The Brady Center, 4009 Elm; 10 a.m.; Pauline Medrano, host
Kiest Rec Center, 3080 S. Hampton; 6:30 p.m.; Dave Neumann, host
St. Thomas Aquinas Drama Room, 3741 Abrams; 6:30 p.m.; Angela Hunt, Sheffie Kadane, co-hosts
Thursday, Aug. 27
Umphress Rec Center, 7616 Umphress; 7 p.m., Dwaine Carraway, host
Fretz Rec Center, 6950 Belt Line, 7 p.m.; Linda Koop, Ron Natinsky, co-hosts
Visiting Nurse Association, 1440 Mockingbird; 6:30 p.m.; Pauline Medrano, host
White Rock Church of Christ, 9220 Ferguson, 6:30 p.m., Carolyn Davis, host
Winfrey Point, 950 E. Lawther; 6:30 p.m.; Sheffie Kadane, host
Monday, Aug. 31
Mark Twain Elementary, 724 Green Cove, 7 p.m.; Dwaine Carraway, host
Cummings Rec Center, 2976 Cummings; noon; Vonciel Hill, host
Frontiers of Flight Museum, 6911 Lemmon; 6:30 p.m.; Angela Hunt, host
Tuesday, Sept. 1
Walnut Hill Rec Center, 10011 Midway; 7 p.m.; Ann Margolin, host
Pleasant Oaks Rec Center, 8701 Greenmound; noon; Vonciel Hill, host
Aiken Elementary, 12300 Pleasant Valley, 7 p.m.; Jerry Allen, host
Fireside Rec Center, 8601 Fireside; 7 p.m.; Tennell Atkins, host
Village Country Club, 8308 Southwestern; 6:30 p.m.; Angela Hunt, host
Martin Weiss Rec Center, 1111 Martindale; 6:30 p.m.; Delia Jasso, host
Thursday, Sept. 3
Beckley Saner Rec Center, 114 W. Hobson; 7 p.m.; Dwaine Carraway, host
Churchill Rec Center, 6906 Churchill; 7 p.m.; Linda Koop, host
Park in the Woods Rec Center, 6801 Mountain Creek; 7 p.m.; Dave Neumann, host
Lee Park Arlington Hall, 3333 Turtle Creek; 6:30 p.m.; Angela Hunt, host
Tuesday, Sept. 8
Paul Laurance Dunbar Library, 2008 E. Keist; 7 p.m.; Dwaine Carraway, host
Ronald McNair Elementary, 3150 Bainbridge; 7 p.m.; Tennell Atkins, host